Roach

        EVENDALE — When he arrives for work today, former Cincinnati police officer Stephen Roach will face the controversy over his hiring head-on.

        He submitted his resignation from the Cincinnati Police Department this month and begins at least eight weeks of training with an Evendale police supervisor today.

        “He is very much looking forward to coming in here and is excited and willing to do the best he can,” said Evendale Police Chief Gary Foust.

        The chief said he has spoken with the 27-year-old officer almost every day during the weeks that some residents have been protesting the hire. Officer Roach's spirits have not deflated, the chief said.

        “He is very tenacious,” Chief Foust said.

        But about 50 people protesting the hire plan to be outside the Evendale Municipal Complex at 6 a.m. today to show Officer Roach he is not wanted in the 3,000-resident village sandwiched between Sharonville and Reading.

        The police department has received an overwhelming pledge of support from people in and outside Evendale via e-mails, phone calls and letters, the chief said.

        But Chief Foust is holding off deciding where Officer Roach will work in the department. He said he wants to see how the community reacts to him and how he performs.

        Officer Roach, who is white, was acquitted in the April 7 fatal shooting of an unarmed but fleeing black man, which sparked Cincinnati's worst riots in 30 years.

        Meanwhile, residents protesting Officer Roach's hiring continued to gather signatures Monday for a November referendum to overturn council's decision to bring him into the police department.

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