City of Cincinnati Mayor John

Office of Mayor John Cranle~ 801 Plum Street, Suite 150Cincinnati, Ohio 45202Phone (513) 352 3250

April 15, 2016 Fax (513)352-5201Email: John.Cranley@cincinnati oh.gov

Dr. Santa J. OnoPresidentUniversity of CincinnatiP0 Box 210063Cincinnati, OH 45221

Dear Santa:

I am writing in response to your letter of March 10, 2016 and to raise questions related to reporting in thetoday’s Enquirer.

As a follow up to this letter, we need a meeting in the very near future that includes you, myself, InterimUC Police Chief Whalen, UCs General Counsel, (JC Board Chair Rob Richardson, City Manager Black,Chief Isaac, City Solicitor Boggs Muething. I aw and Public Safety Chairman Christopher Smitherman,NAACP President Robert Richardson, Sr., Iris Roley, and Al (jerhardstein. Feel free to include others,but I believe that having these parties meet in the very near future is essential to any further discussionrelated to a MOU between Cincinnati and UC. Teninnah Ross in my office will coordinate schedules, butlet’s meet in the next two weeks.

In your March 1O~~ letter, you expressed reservations regarding getting the Cincinnati NAACP’sinvolvement in finalizing the MOU related to allowing UC Campus Police to exercise police powers inthe City of Cincinnati outside of campus.

Like UC, Cincinnati has faced tough times but the Collaborative Agreement, finalized in 2002, has been abig part of our progress. The Collaborative Agreement is held up as a role model for other cities. At thetime of its passage, civil rights organizations supported the Collaborative Agreement.

Therefore, I believe that building support from the civil rights community for any potential MOU is vitalto the peace and wellbeing of our City. UC is at a similar crossroad that Cincinnati was at in 2002. Giventhat the NAACP is the oldest and most recognized civil rights organization in the country whose nationalconvention will be held in Cincinnati this summer, I believe that the NAACP’s approval of any MOU willbe necessary for the City to continue to allow the UC Police Department to police outside of campus. Weshould also include other civil rights organizations, such as the Black United Front, which, as you mayknow, was a lead plaintiff in the Collaborative Agreement.

The meeting that I am requesting can setup a process by which any future MOl. between the City and UCcan earn support from the civil rights community.

Equal Opportuniq Employer

I am also writing to raise serious questions raised by today’s Enquirer article related to the report that UCPolice continue to patrol off-campus in violation of the ordinance forbidding such activities prior to thecompletion of a formal MOU approved by City Council. Attached to this letter is a copy of that ordinancethat forbids traffic enforcement outside of campus.

Today’s Enquirer article states “Since DuBose’s death, the university has continued to engage in off-campus patrols minus the aggressive policy on traffic stops.” If true, this is a clear violation of city lawand needs to cease immediately.

I know that you are committed to reform. The exposure of former Chief Goodrich’s bad policing tactics istestimony to your willingness to be transparent and to admit to problems as you arejust as committed tosolving them. As you know, I believe that Interim Chief Whalen, Professor Engel, and Mr. Baker aregreat hires and will help UC make the needed police reform. We continue to be committed to try to be apartner for reform with you, but we have to insure that current city laws are followed and that the civilrights community supports off-campus policing of UC Police before it continues.

I know we will work on this together in good faith and committed to finding common ground.

Sincerely,

4 —/

Jo n CranleyMayor, City of Cincinnati

CC: Interim UC Police Chief Whalen, UC Board Chair Rob Richardson, City Manager Harry Black,Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac, City Solicitor Paula Boggs Muething, Councilman ChristopherSmitherman, NAACP President Robert Richardson, Sr., Iris Roley, Al Gerhardstein

Enclosures: Cincinnati Enquirer, “UCPD created ‘no-fly zone’ DuBose drove through” (4-15-16)City of Cincinnati Ordinance #264-2015

UCPD created no-fly zone DuBose drove through Page 1 of3

UCPD created ‘no-fly zone’ DuBose drove throughKate Murphy and Kevin Grasha, kgrasha06enqnirer.coin 809 a in ED1ApriI 15, 2016

Former University of Cincinnati police Chief Jason Goodrich described his approach to off-campus policing ascreating a no-fly zone according to his officers

He promoted boosting the number of traffic stops, calling it a method of “crime displacement” theory. Hewanted to make the area around the Uptown campus a place criminals wouldn’t want to drive through.

Soon, there would be nearly five times as many traffic stops and citations in neighborhoods around UC

(Photo: Enquirerfile/Carne Cochran) than before he became chief in November 2014. By last spring, officers were making 14 stops a day.

On July 19, Samuel DuBose was passing through Goodrich’s “no-fly zone.” His life ended at a traffic stop whenUCPD Officer Ray Tensing shot and killed him.

That’s the narrative contained in a review of UC’s policing released Thursday by the university, which had hired the consulting firm Exiger to conduct it,

“It was clear that Chief Goodrich embraced the aggressive use of such stops as part of his policing philosophy, that he communicated this philosophy inmanifold ways to his officers (supervisors and rank-and-file alike), and that this precipitated the spike in traffic stops leading up to the shooting death of

Samuel DuBose,” the review concluded.

It also describes Goodrich and a top lieutenant as “untruthful” in the wake of DuBose’s death about whether they had embraced an aggressive use of off-campus traffic stops.

Goodrich acknowledged during the review that some of his officers might have been racially profiling motorists.

The problem was a lack of oversight and an accountability system, as well as gaps in leadership and management, said Robin Engel, UC’s vice presidentfor safety and reform whose position was elevated after last summer’s tragedy.

“This is a national issue,” Engel said. “We need to make sure when we have policing strategies, they are reviewed by multiple individuals and a system of

accountability and oversight is put in place.” She said President Santa Ono was not available, so she was speaking on behalf of the university about theExiger review of UC policing.

DuBose’s death galvanized community members and the Black Lives Matter movement locally, spawning both protests and a robust local discussion

about police-community relations in Cincinnati.

“It’s not a surprise that they had called for stepped up harassing in working-class communities surrounding the university and it’s also not a surprise that

they lied,” said Brian Taylor, one of the organizers of Black Lives Matter Cincinnati.

He said the review doesn’t capture the whole picture, however.

“The city and UC administration would like to have people believe they found the essence of the problem and this is something of the past,” Taylor

said. “That escalation doesn’t let off the hook the fundamental problem and the reason why someone like Samuel DuBose gets profiled, whether it’s UCpolice or CPD or departments that are part of greater Cincinnati.”

Report findings and police leaders’ responses

Both Goodrich, and former police Major Tim Thornton resigned on Feb. 26, the same date Goodrich had a final interview with Exiger investigators. In thatlast talk, the chief was confronted with inconsistencies between his earlier statements to administrators and investigators and subsequent findings byExiger following a review of police records and interviews with UC police personnel.

Goodrich told Exiger that day some of his officers were “clearly off mission” and “fishing for stuff’ in traffic stops.

“He ultimately acknowledged that stops were a ‘common theme’ in his conversations with supervising officers who reported to him, and that it was‘probably’ a fair assessment that he promoted traffic stops as part of a balanced approach to policing,” the report states.

“When the Exiger team described the almost universal perception within UCPD that the Chief instigated a policy of aggressive off-campus traffic stops,and that he expected his officers to engage in such stops, Chief Goodrich concluded that he must have failed in communicating his message of‘balance’ — that it got ‘lost in translation

The conduct of Goodrich and Thornton had become a separate investigation under the review this winter, after interviews with rank-and-file UCPD

officers and documents couldn’t be reconciled with statements from the two top cops.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/20 16/04/1 4/report-ex-uc-police-officials-untruthful/83029286/ 4/15/2016

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stops were being made. Yet records reviewed by Exiger showed Goodrich had received daily management reports that included data on the traffic stops.

Thornton also saw reports on officer activity, including traffic stops, but said he never examined the data.

When Engel confronted Goodrich with data that showed notable disparities, especially in some officers, between black and white drivers,” Goodrichsuggested that his own officers “might be profiling” black drivers.

The UCPD’s reliance on traffic stops spurred a decision by Goodrich to order two new motorcycles for a dedicated traffic unit. UCPD bought themotorcycles but abandoned the idea of using them for traffic stops after DuBose’s death.

Both Goodrich and Thornton referred to their failure to see problems with the traffic stops as a “blind spot,” Thornton insisted that Tensing and a “clique”

of outlier officers were the ones making frequent stops.

It was when UC administrators confronted the police leaders with the discrepancies in information that they “elected to resign from their positions,’ Engelsaid.

The former UC police officer at the center of the case, Tensing, is charged with murder in the shooting. Tensing’s attorney maintains hewas dragged when DuBose tried to drive away. An independent report into the incident found that the car accelerated only after DuBose was shot and his

foot pressed down on the gas pedal.

The university in January agreed to a $5.3 million settlement (/story/news/2016/04/13/iudge-rule-dividing-dubose-settlementJ82977302/) with DuBose’sfamily.

University: Traffic stops not problem, but approach was

Traffic stops more than tripled after Goodrich was named chief in November 2014, according to the review. During the two months before the July 2015shooting death of DuBose, UCPD traffic stops hit an all-time high, an average of 412 stops per month compared to 87 per month before Goodrich arrived

the previous autumn.

“Traffic stops are not the problem here,” Engel said, “They can be used in combination with other strategies as a crime prevention effort when they are

not used solely or abused.”

The problem at UC last year, she said, was the implementation and lack of oversight. There must be data-driven and evidence-based reviews that are

very specific and targeted to the reduction of a particular crime problem, Engel said.

That’s why UC created two new director-level positions in the Department of Public Safety after the DuBose shooting, she said.

Engel said those directors provide “additional oversight with substantive expertise” to make sure the department is “policing in a manner that’s botheffective and equitable.”

We’re seen as potential criminals’

Black Lives Matter member Taylor doesn’t believe an increased police presence in the racially mixed neighborhoods surrounding UC prevents crime in away that’s beneficial to the community.

“It never works out in our favor,” he said. “It opens the door for the type of brutality that happened with Sam DuBose, and we’re seen as potentialcriminals.”

He said society is capable of creating better ways to make students feel safe than the “so-called policing” enforced by UCPD.

The reason off-campus policing patrols expanded was because it was clear the Cincinnati Police Department couldn’t provide the proper level of safety

and security for students, faculty, staff and residents by itself, Engel said. Since DuBose’s death, the university has continued to engage in off-campuspatrols -- minus the aggressive policy on traffic stops. The neighborhoods are seeing a 10-year low in the number of reported crimes, she said.

“The crime prevention efforts are working,” Engel said. “Right now, UCPD is not engaging in proactive traffic stops, and we’re still seeing a significant

reduction in crime around campus.”

UC now is conducting a national search for Goodrich’s successor. UC Director of Public Safety James L. Whalen is serving as the interim chief of UCPD.

Despite her views on the success of the patrols, Engel acknowledged off-campus policing remains an issue for the community that “certainly needs to beaddressed.”

The trust between a university, its leaders and the heads of its police department is imperative, she said.

But, Engel said, that honest and transparent relationship extends beyond UC to and trust needs to be “re-established.”

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2O16/O4/14/report-ex-uc-police-officials-untruthful/83 029286/ 4/15/2016

CEMERGENCY rA~~

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~tt~Nii~ ~ VEXPRESSING City Council’s support for the City of Cincinnati’s ongoing review of its mutualaid agreements with other local jurisdictions in the area, including the University of Cincinnati,which administrative review will serve to determine the appropriate scope of such agreements interms of reciprocal law enforcement services provided by and to other local jurisdictions: andfurther ESTABLISHING that, until the appropriate scope of such agreements along with theunderlying terms of collaboration can be fully developed between the City of Cincinnati and theUniversity of Cincinnati, traffic enforcement by University of Cincinnati law enforcementpersonnel shall be limited to traffic enforcement actions within the campus boundaries of theUniversity of Cincinnati campus locations within Cincinnati; and further SUPPORTING theleadership of the University of Cincinnati in its commitment and resolve to partner with the Cityof Cincinnati to implement necessary policing reforms and improved training related toprinciples established under the Collaborative Agreement for all University of Cincinnati lawenforcement personnel.

WHEREAS, jurisdictions in the State of Ohio have historically participated in mutual aidagreements related to public safety, based on the understanding that a jurisdiction is often facedwith public safety issues that can best be addressed and resolved with multi-jurisdictionalcooperation, or may be forced to deal with local emergencies which a jurisdiction may be ill-equipped to address using only its own public safety resources; and

WHEREAS, such mutual aid agreements have been and continue to be an effective toolin the provision of law enforcement services throughout Ohio and neighboring states, and CityCouncil is supportive of such collaborative efforts between local jurisdictions and their publicsafety forces which serve to enhance the safety and quality of life of the citizens of Cincinnatiand the region; and

WHEREAS, recent events related to the off-campus traffic stop by a University ofCincinnati police officer and the resulting death of Cincinnati resident have now required theCity of Cincinnati to initiate a thorough and detailed review of its mutual aid agreements withother local jurisdictions, including the University of Cincinnati, in order to determine theappropriate scope of such agreements in terms of reciprocal law enforcement services providedby and to other local jurisdictions; and

WHEREAS, in an analysis of traffic enforcement trends by the University of Cincinnati,an August 1, 2015, Cincinnati Enquirer article found that the size of the University of Cincinnatipolice force has grown from 41 officers to 73 officers within the past year and that the number oftraffic stops by University of Cincinnati police has increased by over 200% since 2012, which

increased emphasis on traffic enforcement has led to a significant rise in the number ofinteractions between Cincinnati residents and University of Cincinnati law enforcementpersonnel on off-campus locations; and

WHEREAS, the leadership of the University of Cincinnati has expressed its resolve andcommitment to partner with the City of Cincinnati to implement necessary policing reforms andimproved training related to principles established under the Collaborative Agreement for allUniversity of Cincinnati law enforcement personnel as quickly as possible, and City Councilstrongly supports this initiative and commitment by the University; and

WHEREAS, the City of Cincinnati’s implementation of the Collaborative Agreementwith its emphasis on a problem-solving method of policing has consistently demonstrated thatpublic safety problems are dilemmas to be resolved and learned from, and that diverse groupswithin the Cincinnati community with different experiences and perspectives share much incommon and can work together on common goals and solve problems together; and

WHEREAS, in order to allow necessary time for such Collaborative-based efforts to fullydevelop and become established within the culture of University of Cincinnati law enforcement,the City of Cincinnati shall take all necessary actions to limit the traffic enforcement jurisdictionof University of Cincinnati law enforcement personnel to the boundaries of the University ofCincinnati campus within Cincinnati; now, therefore

BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Cincinnati, State of Ohio:

Section 1. That, while the City of Cincinnati reviews its mutual aid agreements with

other local jurisdictions in the area, including the University of Cincinnati, to determine the

appropriate scope of such agreements in terms of reciprocal law enforcement services provided

by and to other local jurisdictions, the City Manager is hereby authorized to take all necessary

actions to restrict and limit the traffic enforcement jurisdiction of University of Cincinnati law

enforcement personnel to the boundaries of the University of Cincinnati campus within

Cincinnati until further written notice from the City of Cincinnati. providing prompt notice to the

University of Cincinnati of such administrative action.

Section 2. That the Mayor and City Council strongly support the leadership of the

University of Cincinnati in its commitment and resolve to partner with the City of Cincinnati to

implement necessary policing reforms and improved training related to principles established

under the Collaborative Agreement for all University of Cincinnati law enforcement personnel.

C-

Section 3. That this ordinance shall be an emergency measure necessary for the

preservation of the public peace, health, safety and general welfare and shall, subject to the terms

of Article II, Section 6 of the Charter, be effective immediately. The reason for the emergency is

the immediate need to ensure that the City Manager is fully authorized to ensure adequate public

safety by taking all necessary actions to promptly restrict and limit the traffic enforcement

jurisdiction of University of Cincinnati law enforcement personnel to the boundaries of the

University of Cincinnati campus within Cincinnati.

Passed: 15

A~est: ~

I H~RE8Y CERTIFV ThAT ORDINANCE No. L~’~” ~~ ~‘~LISHE!J !l~ HE ~TV R

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