Case: Doc 39 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 1 of 14 PAGEID 697

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
WESTERN DIVISION

CASE NUMBER: 

JASON COTTERMAN, PLAINTIFF,
VS.

CITY OF CINCINNATI,
et al., DEFENDANTS.



DEPONENT: ELIOT ISAAC

DATE: August 20, 2019

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LEEANNGOFF 

COURT REPORTER

a I 
Raisin the Bar
Reporting 8: Vi eo Services, 
620 Washington Street
Covington, Kentucky 41011
(859) 261-8440

 

 

Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 2 of 14 PAGEID #: 698
Page 1
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
WESTERN DIVISION
CASE NUMBER: 1:17-CV-608
JASON COTTERMAN,

PLAINTIFF,

vs.
CITY OF CINCINNATI,
et al.,
DEFENDANTS.

********
DEPONENT:
ELIOT ISAAC
DATE:
August 20, 2019
********
LEE ANN GOFF
COURT REPORTER
Barlow
Raising the Bar
Reporting & Video Services, LLC
620 Washington Street
Covington, Kentucky 41011
(859) 261-8440

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The deposition of ELIOT ISAAC, taken for the
purpose of discovery and/or use as evidence in the
within action, pursuant to notice, heretofore taken at
Cincinnati City Hall, 801 Plum Street, Cincinnati, Ohio
45202, on August 20, 2019, at 2:11 p.m., upon oral
examination, and to be used in accordance with the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
********
APPEARANCES
REPRESENTING THE PLAINTIFFS:
Robert F. Croskery, Esq.
Croskery Law Offices
3905 Eastern Avenue, Suite 200
Cincinnati, Ohio 45226

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REPRESENTING THE DEFENDANTS:
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Julie F. Bissinger, Esq.
Senior Assistant City Solicitor
801 Plum Street, Suite 214
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
ALSO PRESENT: Jason Cotterman

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********

INDEX
Examination of ELIOT ISAAC
BY MR. CROSKERY:

Page
4

EXHIBITS
Exhibit
Exhibit 1
Exhibit 4
Exhibit 17

Page referenced
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39
39

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ELIOT ISAAC
called on behalf of the Plaintiff, after having been
first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:
CROSS-EXAMINATION
BY MR. CROSKERY:
Q. Good afternoon, Chief Isaac.
A. Good afternoon.
Q. We just met. Please state your full name.
A. Eliot Isaac, I-S-A-A-C.
Q. And I'm assuming that if I need to get you
for trial, I can get you through counsel?
MS. BISSINGER: Yes.
Q. Chief, how long have you been the chief of
police here at the City of Cincinnati Police
Department?
A. I was officially appointed in December of
2015. I took over as interim chief in September of
'15.
Q. And you were put in as interim chief in
connection with an action taken by Harry Black, city
manager, in terminating Chief Blackwell, who preceded
you; is that right?
A. That's correct.
Q. And part of his reasons for terminating
Police Chief Blackwell were outlined in a long report

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that I assume you're fairly familiar with. I'm going
to give it to you now; it's Exhibit 1.
A. Okay.
Q. There is no need to read or go through the
whole thing, I just want you to look at it and tell
me whether or not you've seen it before.
A. Yes.
Q. In fact, it's my understanding that you were
responsible for some of the information gathered by
the city manager in this report; is that correct?
A. I did give a statement or write a statement.
Q. And I believe your statement is in here, but
in addition to that, didn't the city manager meet
with you and also with Colonel Bailey to request
assistance in the transition period?
A. Correct.
Q. Tell me what your recollection is about that
meeting.
A. That he was going to make a change. I was
the executive assistant chief at the time. The
executive assistant chief holds the responsibility
that, in the absence of the police chief, they assume
the duties of the police chief.
Q. So you had already assumed the duties of the
police chief from time to time when he was absent?

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A. Correct.
Q. Now, some of the information that's in this
report deals with two things I want to hone in on.
One is what I would call an unofficial chain of
command, that is that Chief Blackwell had a group of
lieutenant colonels underneath him that normally
would be the ones that you would expect would give
out information, directives and communication, but
that there was also a group of unofficial people that
were, I don't know if friends is the right word,
acquaintances, and folks that were in the circle of
Chief Blackwell. And one of the complaints from the
city manager is that information, according to the
department personnel, was sometimes passed through
this unofficial chain of command. Are you familiar
with that allegation?
A. I am aware that there were some that felt
that way.
Q. Well, did you feel that way?
A. I felt that at times communication was a
challenge. I was only an assistant chief for a short
period of time. I was appointed executive assistant
chief in July, so I only had a two, two and a half
month experience at the senior level.
Q. July of 2015?

A. Correct.
Q. All right. Prior to July of 2015, what was
your position?
A. I was the commander of CIS, the criminal
investigations section. And then I was for -- for a
short period of time prior to my promotion to
executive assistant chief, I was the patrol
administration commander.
Q. Now, have you been in the Cincinnati Police
Department your whole career?
A. My career, since 1988.
Q. Congratulations.
A. Thank you.
Q. Does the commander of CIS have any authority
over internal affairs or is that something separate?
A. That is separate.
Q. I understood that internal affairs at the
time that I'm concerned with was under Colonel
Bailey. And what were your roles as the commander of
CIS? What did you do?
A. In charge of the criminal investigations
section, in charge of the homicide unit, the personal
crime units, and the financial crime, major offenders
unit.
Q. All right. Is it fair to say then that you

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had nothing to do with the initiation of the
prosecution against Sergeant Richard Sulfsted and
against Officer Jason Cotterman?
A. That is correct.
Q. But eventually when Chief Blackwell left,
you kind of took over -- or not you personally, but
the folks under you took over continuing the
prosecution that had started under Chief Blackwell?
MS. BISSINGER: I'm going to object to the
term prosecution. The chief -- nobody -- the
prosecution decision was made by the prosecutor's
office. It wasn't made by Cincinnati Police
Department.
MR. CROSKERY: Well, your objection is
noted, Ms. Bissinger. But in this morning's
deposition, what I heard was that Brent McCurley, who
was the lead investigator, and his associate,
Sergeant Scalf, dealt with the prosecutor, made
recommendations which may or may not have been
accepted, and that based on that the city solicitor
chose to go forward with the prosecution.
MS. BISSINGER: That was not the testimony.
The testimony was they presented the facts and the
prosecutors made the decision whether or not to
charge.

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MR. CROSKERY: Well, the record will speak
for itself.
MS. BISSINGER: Yes.
BY MR. CROSKERY:
Q. But my point is that prosecution had been
started up, a decision had been made on it before you
were the chief of police?
A. That's correct.
Q. We're in agreement on that?
A. Um-hmm.
Q. And it continued after you were chief of
police?
A. It continued, correct.
Q. All right. Now, when you first came in as
chief of police, is it fair that you -- that you came
in after allegations that there had been some
mismanagement on the part of the former chief?
A. I'm not sure if "mismanagement" is the
correct word. I know there was some dissatisfaction.
There was some complaints regarding his treatment of
certain employees, and I would have to review the
rest.
Q. Well, some of the phrases that have been
used by the city manager in his report -- for example
at the beginning of the second page, he talks about

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dire conditions for our officers. It's unreasonable
to expect them to continue to serve with distinction
in the existing toxic environment. Do you see that
about the fourth line down? And that there was a
climate assessment done which showed fairly low
morale in a number of key areas. Can we agree on
that?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. So whether Mr. Black is correct
about this or not, I don't know, but I can tell you
that in his report he states that Chief Blackwell
used verbal abuse and insults to convey authority.
And he also notes a culture of hostility and
retaliation. That is the beginning of the third
paragraph on that page. Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. And he also discusses the use of overtime
and talks about documented and corroborated acts of
retaliation. Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, do you believe, based on any of your
observations, that you could corroborate that there
was retaliation and acts of hostility?
A. Definitely acts of hostility. And there was
definitely some mistreatment of employees,

specifically Ms. Tiffaney Hardy. I believe I even
mention that in my statement.
Q. I think you do.
A. Yes.
Q. So at least in the specifics that you were
aware of, you would believe -- you would testify that
your observations were consistent with the
observations that Mr. Black wrote in his report
concerning Chief Blackwell; is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. So as the new incoming commander
faced with what at least is alleged to have been a
toxic environment for the police officers involved,
I'm assuming that you took steps to do an up-to-down
inventory and rectify the situation as best you
could; is that right?
A. Correct.
Q. Tell me about that. What did you do?
A. Well, you know, we did a number of things.
We reinstituted some things that were discontinued,
some audits. We definitely tried to make the extra
effort to communicate with the entire staff. That
was one of the key complaints, was that there was a
lack of communication throughout the department. And
definitely -- it only left myself and Colonel Bailey,

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so we were on the path to promote several additional
assistant chiefs.
Q. And did you, in fact, promote several?
A. We did.
Q. And tell me about that.
A. We went through a process. And through that
process, Teresa Theetge was promoted to assistant
chief, Michael John was promoted to assistant chief,
and Paul Neudigate was promoted to assistant chief.
Q. So when you had finished with these
promotions, just help me understand the chain of
command at this point. You're the chief, Lieutenant
Colonel Bailey is -A. He becomes the executive assistant chief.
Q. Executive assistant chief. And then are
each of these -- let's see, you've got five district
chiefs.
A. Then the other three become assistant
chiefs, and then the districts are run by captains.
Q. Right. And Captain Theetge before, I
believe, was in internal. We just heard about that
today.
A. I believe so.
Q. All right. So is there a captain in
internal and then five captains, one for each

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district, or how does it work?
A. Yes. There are captains in other
assignments. Captains are in charge of either
districts or sections.
Q. And how many do you have all together?
A. We have 15 captains.
Q. Just promoting -- I'm translating this into
military. I'm not sure -- so if you were -A. I am.
Q. Okay.
A. So if you would think of the police
department or think of a district as a company, you
have a captain, you have four lieutenants. And then
there's usually 19 or 20 sergeants assigned to a
district. And then depending on the size of the
district, there may be anywhere from 90 to 150
officers in that district.
Q. Okay. Now, I understood from the deposition
that I took this morning of Sergeant -- well, he's
now Lieutenant McCurley, but then-Sergeant McCurley,
that he was giving fairly consistent briefings to
Captain Theetge and then less frequently but still
briefings to Chief Blackwell about the case involving
Jason Cotterman. So when you took over as chief,
first of all, were you getting consistent briefings

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about Jason Cotterman?
A. I was not. The responsibility of the
internal investigation section was placed with
Lieutenant Colonel Bailey.
Q. All right.
A. So he was spearheading most of that. And
until we were able to promote assistant chiefs, it
was just he and myself at that level. And then we
had Captain Doug Wiesman assisting us as an acting.
Q. So it sounds like your plate was pretty
full.
A. Very full.
Q. As was his?
A. As was his.
Q. So did you ever have a chance to drill down
deep and find out the whole situation involving Jason
Cotterman?
A. I did not. At that point it had already
been taken by the prosecutors and that process was
well underway.
Q. All right. So you yourself had no
involvement with internal at the time of prosecution
recommendations being made?
A. Not -- not a drill down as you asked. I
mean, obviously the final reports, those things of

that nature would come to me.
Q. Right.
A. I can't even -- I'm not certain if Jason's
report came to me or not -- if that was done before.
Q. Did you have an understanding -- and there
was some publicity associated with this case that -you may or may not have an understanding. Did you
have an understanding of what the allegations were
against Jason Cotterman?
A. Loosely, from what I can recall now. I'm
sure at the time, reading it then would have been a
lot fresher, but now if I could recall -- I remember
the basic circumstances around it.
Q. Well, one thing we were looking at in some
detail this morning were the complaints that were
actually filed in the prosecution's office that had
Sergeant McCurley's affidavit on the bottom of them.
And essentially it was dereliction of duty for
failing to arrest an Officer Mitchell -- at that time
it was sergeant, now lieutenant, who had struck a
telephone pole in the wee, small hours of the
morning.
And the question I'm going to ask of you is
the same one I asked of Lieutenant McCurley this
morning, and that is: Apart from Sergeant Sulfsted

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and Jason Cotterman, are you aware of any police
officer in the entire State of Ohio that has ever
been prosecuted for failing to issue a citation?
A. I am not.
Q. Are you familiar with officers that have
gotten into traffic accidents and not gotten
citations?
A. Absolutely.
Q. In fact, you fall into that category;
correct?
A. Absolutely.
Q. And as a general rule, isn't it true that
the Cincinnati Police Academy teaches officers that
there are times when verbal warnings and written
warnings are appropriate?
A. Correct.
Q. And that's because it is important for a
police and its citizenry to have good communications,
and you're really about safety -- public safety;
right?
A. I think it's about being able to determine
fault, determine to take the appropriate action in
the appropriate circumstance.
Q. All right.
A. There is a, a -- a deal of discretion that

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is afforded to do this type of work.
Q. All right. Are you familiar with an
allegation that Chief Blackwell had had a special
relationship with an officer named Kevin Jones, who
is now deceased?
A. A special relationship?
Q. In that he ran favors for him.
A. I am not aware of that.
Q. Okay. The testimony we heard this morning,
and I'll be corrected, I'm sure, by Ms. Bissinger -MS. BISSINGER: I'm already shaking my head.
Q. -- if she thinks I get it wrong. But the
testimony that I heard from Lieutenant McCurley this
morning was that they went in to see Chief Blackwell,
he called them in when they were going to see the
Hamilton County Prosecutor. And that Chief Blackwell
told them at first he did not want them to see the
Hamilton County Prosecutor. And in fact, Sergeant
Scalf testified that Chief Blackwell was pushing back
against the Kevin Jones case. Kevin Jones' case,
which you're probably familiar with because it was
reasonably famous, was Kevin Jones was intoxicated,
had a weapon with him off duty in a bar,
pistol-whipped somebody so bad that their head
swelled up. And that Sergeant McCurley at that time

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and Sergeant Scalf believed that that merited
prosecution, but that Chief Blackwell, according to
Sergeant Scalf, pushed back with another case
involving -MS. BISSINGER: What the testimony was was
it merited going to see the prosecutor about it. The
prosecutor would decide whether to bring charges.
That's what the testimony was.
Q. Well, of course the prosecutor will always
decide whether to bring charges or not, but the point
was that they could not understand Chief Blackwell's
pushback in saying that this was comparable to a case
where an off-duty police officer got into a fight
over somebody who was having an affair with his wife,
that they believed these fell into two different
categories. And that they believed that anybody of
reasonable -- well, I won't go that far.
Would you agree with Chief Blackwell, just
based on the facts that I've outlined, that a case
where you pistol-whip somebody while you're
intoxicated off duty with your police weapon in a bar
while you're drunk is comparable to a police officer
getting into a fight with somebody over an alleged
affair with his wife?
A. Going into a bar with a gun, I would not say

they are the same.
Q. Exactly. And wouldn't your long experience
in the Cincinnati Police Department lead you to
believe that this is conduct not only unbecoming of
an officer, but conduct that almost any reasonable
person would say merits prosecution?
A. Correct.
Q. All right. So tying the dots together, the
report already talks about Chief Blackwell having
used hostility toward certain individuals that you're
familiar with?
A. (Witness nodded head.)
Q. And also favoritism towards some
individuals. Did you observe that as well?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. So do you agree with me that the
policy of deciding whether or not somebody should be
prosecuted or not prosecuted should not be based on
command influence, but rather be based on the facts
of the case?
A. That, I do agree.
Q. All right. So to the extent that Chief
Blackwell exercised command influence to get the
unprecedented step of prosecuting police officers for
not writing a ticket to a fellow police officer --

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and again I'm saying to the extent that that
happened, you would agree with me that that was
inappropriate; true?
MS. BISSINGER: I'm going to object because
that is assuming a gigantic fact that is not in
evidence in this case. No one has said that Chief
Blackwell influenced this investigation at all. And,
in fact, McCurley and Scalf said it never happened,
and they were the primary investigators.
MR. CROSKERY: Actually, I beg to disagree.
I'm not disagreeing about what they say, but there is
a couple huge facts that you haven't seen yet that I
think will demonstrate very clearly what I'm talking
about. And I'm asking him an assumption question.
BY MR. CROSKERY:
Q. Assuming for a minute that Chief Blackwell
did exercise command influence to get this
prosecution underway for reasons known to him that
had nothing to do with the facts of the case, would
you agree with me that that was inappropriate?
A. I believe he should stick to the facts.
Q. Absolutely. And in fact, if you look at the
facts of this case -- and you may not have had a
chance to look at the facts very deeply, but I've had
a chance to look at them extremely deeply. And I've

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had a few disquieting things that bother me that I
want to ask you a couple questions about.
The first is that there was a Specialist
Pike involved in this case. And Specialist Pike made
allegations that Jason Cotterman handled the
situation incorrectly. Jason was the first guy on
the scene. He sees Officer Mitchell has, has run his
van into a telephone pole.
Now, there's been a 911 call. And this 911
call comes from another witness, a Mr. Lacey, I
believe. The 911 call claims that this van is
driving -- careening around the road. Jason
Cotterman does not have access to that 911 call. He
hasn't seen the witness or talked to him. However,
the witness shows up and sees Specialist Pike.
And the witness, without disclosing the fact
that there's also a woman in the car that has some
warrants, tells Specialist Pike that this officer was
weaving and was drunk and was going down the road and
had run two stop signs and he had seen all of this.
That's what Lacey says.
So Specialist Pike makes a complaint to the
police department -- makes the complaint that same
night. Here's what Cotterman does, and all of this
is in the record: Cotterman takes Mitchell, places

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him in the back of his car. According to Cotterman,
Mitchell does not give signs of intoxication.
According to Cotterman, his eyes are clear, his
speech is not slurred, but Jason is concerned about
injury because there's been an automobile accident.
And Jason evaluates him. Mitchell is
complaining of nausea, he's complaining of dizziness.
And in Cotterman's experience this is consistent with
a head injury, a concussion, so he puts him in the
back of the police car -- oh, he also is complaining
of being cold. He puts him in the back of the police
car, turns the heater on to observe him.
According to Cotterman, from his experience,
if you put someone in with heat in the back of the
car, if there is an alcohol odor, it will be easier
to detect because he will be sweating it out and it
will be in a confined space. According to Cotterman,
he does this.
His assessment is he doesn't have enough,
based on what he knows, to even administer a field
sobriety test. However, there is an officer
involved, so what Cotterman does is call his
sergeant -- the sergeant on duty and say, Sergeant
Sulfsted, we have an accident involving an officer,
an Officer Mitchell. And Sergeant Sulfsted directs

that Officer Mitchell be taken to the police station,
which Jason does.
Now, so far, assuming nothing else -- I'm
going to get to the rest of it in a minute, but
assuming nothing else, do you see anything wrong with
the way that Cotterman has handled it, as I've
described it?
A. Not based on what you said.
Q. All right. But there's more. Pike's
version is a little different. Pike's version is
that he's talked to this guy that has seen,
supposedly, Officer Mitchell's van weaving back and
forth in the street and that this Mr. Lacey has
indicated that Mitchell had run a couple of stop
signs. Now, if you just had that information,
someone who you didn't know had come up to you and
said, I've seen this car weaving all over the street
and running a couple stop signs, would you just take
that as fact without further investigation or would
you believe it merited investigation?
A. Based on the fact that there is an auto
accident, it merits further investigation.
Q. Exactly. It merits. That doesn't mean that
you take it as a hundred percent true, but you would
at least investigate. So would you agree that that

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was an important thing for Jason Cotterman to know,
that there was a witness there who was claiming that
he had seen Officer Mitchell weaving back and forth?
A. Definitely pertinent.
Q. So Specialist Pike would have had a duty at
that point to tell Jason Cotterman, I have here a
witness -- a witness that claims that that officer
was weaving all over the road; correct?
MS. BISSINGER: Objection to the term duty.
MR. CROSKERY: Well, I'm going to use it.
A. He should -- he should have made him aware.
BY MR. CROSKERY:
Q. Would you say he has a duty to do that?
A. I would say he certainly has a
responsibility to do it.
Q. He's on the scene?
A. It makes sense.
Q. Yeah, he's on the scene. It makes perfect
sense. Now, in the trial -- I'm assuming you are a
busy man. You probably did not sit through the
trial?
A. I did not.
Q. So you did not hear the testimony of the
expert witness from Columbus, the lieutenant who came
down who heard the whole facts of the case,

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correct -- I'm sorry, Hoff -A. Lieutenant Hoffbauer?
Q. Lieutenant Hoffbauer. You didn't hear any
of that testimony?
A. Um-hmm.
Q. And you probably weren't aware that at the
end of the testimony the lieutenant ended up saying
on the record that he believed that the person that
was at fault here was not Jason Cotterman or Sergeant
Scalf, but Specialist Pike for not doing his duty and
telling them what he knew.
A. Yes. I'm aware that Lieutenant Hoffbauer
expressed that.
Q. He did express that after he had a chance to
hear all the facts, not just the facts that had been
brought out in -MS. BISSINGER: I'm going to object because
I don't know -- I don't think any of us know all the
facts Hoffbauer had, if he read every single
investigation, if he listened to every single
interview, if he read every single document. I don't
think that's in evidence.
MR. CROSKERY: Well, thank you, Ms.
Bissinger; your objection is noted. But what I was
referring to is all of the facts that he heard

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testified about in the case, because I'm assuming
that the prosecution made the decision to put the
facts into evidence that they thought were most
relevant.
MS. BISSINGER: There was a separation of
witnesses. Hoffbauer did not sit there for the
entire trial, I don't believe.
MR. CROSKERY: Actually he was an expert
witness and he did hear the relevant testimony.
MS. BISSINGER: How do you know that?
MR. CROSKERY: That's a -MS. BISSINGER: That's an assumption on your
part.
MR. CROSKERY: No, that's in the transcript.
Anyway, moving right along. Your counsel is, I
think, interposing an objection so I'll try to -MS. BISSINGER: Any time I speak it's an
objection, even if I don't say it. Yes, it is.
MR. CROSKERY: All right. Your objection is
noted.
BY MR. CROSKERY:
Q. So the next thing that concerns me a little
bit about this case is after the judge comes back -after Judge Berkowitz comes back with a not guilty
verdict -- my client has been Mirandized, but he also

eventually gets a Garrity warning and then he's put
up for a fitness for duty evaluation.
Now, this fitness for duty evaluation is
based in part, according to Dr. Daum, on a series of
military medical records from Jason Cotterman's
performance in the Marines over a decade ago.
MS. BISSINGER: I'm going to object because
the facts as they are in evidence, as Darla testified
to and as her timeline shows, Mr. Cotterman was
declared unfit for duty before Dr. Daum even had
those records. After Dr. Daum got those records, he
declared him yet again unfit for duty.
Q. So what happens is Dr. Daum ends up with
military medical records. I see you've had some time
in the Army because you're wearing the badge that
says that. Tell me about that. What was your
military service?
A. I spent six years in the Army National
Guard.
Q. What was your unit?
A. The 147th Infantry.
Q. Okay. So you -- you didn't have any
experience as an adjutant or an -A. No.
Q. Were you a basic grunt or --

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A. I was a grunt.
Q. All right.
A. Common man.
Q. All right. But you've been through the
system and you probably have some understanding of
how you get military medical records if you need
them.
A. Other than a request, yeah.
Q. That's how you do it. You do it through a
request. And the request can come -- for example,
the testimony is that your recruits all have their
DD214s -A. Correct.
Q. -- sent so you can see whether or not, you
know, they've been in the military, they have an
honorable discharge?
A. Correct.
Q. And if they don't have an honorable
discharge, they're probably not going to be serving
on the Cincinnati Police Department.
A. Correct.
Q. So that's a screening criteria. You've got
to have at least an honorable discharge?
A. Correct.
Q. But the testimony that I've gotten from your

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officers to this point is that they normally don't
have records past that, such military medical records
we're talking about as existed in Jason Cotterman's
case?
MS. BISSINGER: That's not the testimony.
The testimony is they haven't seen military records
typically in an investigation. Military medical
records is your term of art.
Q. Well, here's the records I'm talking about.
When Jason was in the marines, he was -- he got an
expedited early discharge. And it was based upon an
incident, a somewhat fictive incident that was meant
to get him out of a rough situation that was highly
embarrassing for Jason. Specifically the incident
involved allegations of assault by other members of
his unit and fairly -- fairly gross allegations of
assault. This was not consistent with Jason's image
of himself.
So there are two sets of records. One set
that talks about this incident, which is somewhat
fictive and fairly gross. And another set of records
that deals with him talking about the reason why this
story is in there. But in either case, what
eventually happens is his battalion commander looks
at the whole situation, evaluates it, and he gets an

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honorable discharge. Not a general discharge under
honorable conditions, but an honorable discharge.
Now, without Jason having signed any
authorization that we can find anywhere, somehow the
Cincinnati Police Department ends up with this first
set of what I've called military medical records and
what your counsel has called my term of art,
involving allegations about what he believed happened
to him?
MS. BISSINGER: I'm going to object because
if you look at the military records in full, there
are multiple reasons why Mr. Cotterman was let go
from the military. That's one of the reasons, but
there are multiple reasons including failure to
follow the rules, pulling out a knife when he was on
leave at home -- and there are a number of things.
MR. CROSKERY: That's not his military
medical record, but -MS. BISSINGER: Well, those are his military
records. I don't know what military medical records
mean because again that's your term of art.
BY MR. CROSKERY:
Q. Let me ask my question. My question is
this: These records which have some false
information in them and did not sway the battalion

commander -- the battalion commander gave him an
honorable discharge from the United States Marine
Corps -- and we have been looking at how and why the
Cincinnati Police Department ended up with these
records. And my first question was why.
Why in the world would the Cincinnati Police
Department, once he has met that screening criteria
for getting an honorable discharge, treat him
differently than any other police officer that we
have been able to find so far, and pursue getting
those records which have some question as to their
authenticity and value?
First of all, have you had any involvement
in procuring those records?
A. No.
Q. This is the first time you've heard about it
today?
A. I've not -- as preparing for this, I was
told that there were some military records that were
in question. In having a conversation with Dr. Daum,
he told me there were military records. As to where
they came from, I have no idea.
Q. Well, and this is the concerning part to me,
because -- and it didn't happen under you, it
happened apparently under Chief Blackwell, I'm not

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sure -- but someone-or-other goes out and targets
something that so far we've not been able to find any
other police officer, either in this police
department or any other, where this same thing has
happened. Where somebody has gone out and pursued
getting these records.
So far, every single person I have talked to
in your police department says that this is the only
time that they know that it happened. So let me ask
you, do you know of another time, apart from Jason
Cotterman, when someone targeted, after they had
already become a police officer, getting additional
military medical records?
A. I've never seen a situation where someone
was being medically declared unfit and there was a
military history involved. So in my experience, I've
just not seen this circumstance occur before, that I
can recall.
Q. Well, you weren't involved in authorizing
someone to make this special pursuit of his medical
records, were you?
A. I was not.
Q. Have you -- I'm assuming you want the
Cincinnati Police Department to do things the proper
and correct way?

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A. Absolutely.
Q. And you want them to follow the proper
policy and procedure, and you want the police
department to protect people's rights, even if
they're police officers; true?
A. Absolutely.
Q. You don't want HIPAA violations; correct?
A. Correct.
Q. So in discharging their duties as part of
investigations, is that still true? Should
investigations still follow due process and go
through the correct hoops in order to get records?
A. Absolutely.
Q. Well, let me ask you this: Assuming for a
moment that the correct hoops were not gone through
and the correct procedures were not followed, is it
proper to rely upon the evidence that has been
obtained in order to take administrative actions
against my client, in your view?
A. I have no knowledge that that has occurred.
And I know that through investigative techniques
evidence is obtained. Now, there are -- there are
rules of law, obviously. My summation of that is if
they were not entitled to get this, how did we get
these?

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Q. Well, that's a very good question, Chief,
and it's one I've been pursuing for several months
trying to figure it out.
A. I would assume that if we got them, we were
entitled to get them.
Q. Well, I would assume that also, except for
this: Normally speaking, any good investigator
documents what they do. They take notes in
interviews. They may have somebody observe. They
send out a subpoena. They send out a letter of
request.
We've asked for all of that from the City.
We've asked the City, please show us how these
records were obtained. Please show us the documents.
Please show us whatever request was sent in. Please
show us anything that you have. And thus far we've
come up empty, the city has not been able to tell us.
Now, I do have a deposition scheduled with
someone that Colonel Bailey and others have indicated
-- Captain Butler has indicated may have information
on it. Her name is Michele Longworth and I'll ask
her about it in more detail. But at this point I
haven't seen anything that I would expect to see, as
having been a former adjutant and somebody who is
very familiar with military paperwork, I know that

you just don't walk out -- even if you're the chief
of police, you can't waltz into St. Louis and say, I
want a copy of someone's military records, and have
them. You either have to have a request from the
soldier or a release from the soldier and so far
nothing in the city's paperwork has turned up either
one. So that's concerning to me and it may be
concerning to you. I don't know. The point is -MS. BISSINGER: Are you asking a question?
MR. CROSKERY: I'm about to.
MS. BISSINGER: I feel like you're
testifying or making a closing argument. Do you have
a question?
MR. CROSKERY: Well, I have lots of
questions.
MS. BISSINGER: Okay.
MR. CROSKERY: Just give me a chance. I'm
doing a job.
MS. BISSINGER: Well, you're having a lot of
leeway.
BY MR. CROSKERY:
Q. I don't want to waste your time. We have a
folder that has a complete set of all the requests
that have ever been made to the military for Jason's
records.

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A. From Jason or from -Q. From everybody.
A. Okay.
Q. From Jason and the police department.
A. Um-hmm.
Q. I represent to you there is one from the
police department.
A. Okay.
Q. That was for his DD214, which was something
that he authorized, but there is nothing else in the
military medical records. And the people that keep
the record copy -- the only copy that's authorized,
there is no other authorization anywhere. So that's
why I'm so befuddled.
In fact, Jason went further and checked with
other -- in addition to the National Personnel
Records Center, checked with other agencies, Veterans
Administration, others, just to see whether or not a
copy was out there; answer keeps coming back no. So
the great mystery is how somebody from the Cincinnati
Police Department, without it ever being noted, got
ahold of these records. They sent them a copy. The
Archives, apart from this one place they're supposed
to be don't have a copy, VA doesn't have a copy, so
it must be a brilliant investigative technique of

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some sort and maybe I'll try that.
My question to you is this: Do you have any
explanation of how that happened?
A. I have none.
Q. And you certainly didn't direct it and you
wouldn't say that it was proper to direct going
around it?
A. I certainly did not direct it.
Q. And you wouldn't say that it was proper?
MS. BISSINGER: I'm going to object.
A. But I haven't given any direction on that.
Q. All right. So Colonel Bailey, who is over
the whole thing, indicated that he didn't direct the
obtaining of these records, either. And do you
believe that it would be within the authority of
somebody in the unit to decide to go around the Army
system and obtain the records on their own? Is that
part of good police work?
A. I don't know that that occurred. And I know
that step-by-step directions for every bit of
documentation that is obtained is not given -especially from the assistant chief or the chief's
level.
Q. Of course not.
A. Right.

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Q. But violations of protocol and violations of
individual's rights, that is something that is of
concern at the assistant chief's and chief's level;
true?
A. It would be a concern if, in fact, it did
occur. I haven't -Q. All right.
A. I've not verified that that occurred.
Q. Well, I can't verify it for you for sure
that it occurred, either, at this point. I can just
tell you I don't know what did happen.
I want to look now at Sergeant Sulfsted.
Are you familiar with some text messages that were
exchanged between Cotterman -- Jason Cotterman and
Sergeant Richard Sulfsted?
A. Loosely. I believe it was in -- as part of
the story in the paper, yeah.
Q. Part of the trial?
A. Yeah. Part of the trial.
Q. And then also there was -- I didn't mean to
interrupt.
Also there was an administrative action that
was later taken saying that those text messages were
inappropriate. Do you recall that?
A. Yes, vaguely. Do you have the internal

report?
Q. I do. I think actually there's a couple of
them here. I'll give you that one. This is marked
as Exhibit 4.
MS. BISSINGER: Thank you.
Q. This one is marked as Exhibit 17. Basically
I'm just giving them to you -- I'm assuming you
probably have seen this paperwork before. It's got
your name at the top of it and it's from Lieutenant
Craig Gregoire?
A. Um-hmm.
Q. The internal investigations unit commander,
acting. Now, can you describe for me, because you'd
be far more familiar with this than I am -A. These are the results of the peer review
panel for Sergeant Sulfsted. I'm looking here, this
was regarding February -- dated February 22nd of '17,
that he was issued a written reprimand. And in this
one, it was the -- the penalty was reduced to no
penalty. No discipline on that one.
Q. All right. If you look at the second to the
last page of Exhibit 4, which is five, you've got an
IIU case number 15033, which I'll tell you is the
same case number that we were talking about this
morning that was used to initiate the prosecution.

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Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. And at the end of this, what does the -what does a finding of no discipline mean?
A. He was given a written reprimand and the
peer review panel reduced it to no discipline.
Q. All right. So if I understand no discipline
right, it means it has no adverse effect on his
record; is that right?
A. There's no discipline on his record.
Q. All right. So does the fact of the -- of
the reprimand stay on his record?
A. The reprimand was reversed and no
discipline, so there should be no reprimand on his
record.
Q. All right. So his file essentially will not
reference this incident; is that right?
A. It will not -- it will not reference the
reprimand.
Q. Okay. Won't reference the reprimand, but it
might -A. That does not mean it won't reference the
investigation. There's no discipline for it.
Q. Okay. I understand.
A. Um-hmm.

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Q. So I suppose it could be taken into account
by his supervisor when a performance review is being
written or something like that, but it's not an
actual administrative discipline?
A. Correct.
Q. And is that also true, just to speed things
up, of Exhibit 17, that there was a reprimand issued
that came out with no discipline?
A. Correct.
Q. And in this case, the incident that's being
referenced is the same incident for which he was
being prosecuted, that is failing give a citation to
Officer Mitchell; correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Now, was Officer Mitchell eventually given a
citation?
MS. BISSINGER: Object.
A. I believe by internal.
Q. By March -- yeah, the March 22nd incident,
the same one we're talking about here?
MS. BISSINGER: Thank you.
Q. Was Officer Mitchell eventually given a
citation?
A. I believe so.
Q. Misdemeanor four maybe?

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THE WITNESS: All right.
MS. BISSINGER: So Chief, you'll get a
written transcript of your deposition and have an
opportunity to read it and then sign off on it. You
want it printed; correct?
MR. CROSKERY: Correct.
MS. BISSINGER: Okay.
MR. CROSKERY: We're ordering; he's reading.
MS. BISSINGER: Okay. Thank you.
(Witness excused.)
(Deposition concluded at 3:05 p.m.)

____________________________
_______
ELIOT ISAAC
DATE

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A. I believe so.
Q. All right. Does seat belt and failure to
maintain reasonable control and reckless driving
sound familiar?
MS. BISSINGER: If you know, Chief, if you
can -A. I don't know.
Q. All right. Did you ever come to any
conclusion yourself as to whether or not Mitchell had
been involved in drunk driving?
A. Did I come to any conclusion? My actions
were based upon the process. And to say that I had a
conclusion, no, this was initiated before me. No.
MR. CROSKERY: All right. Chief, I want to
get you out of here as soon as I can. Let me take a
little time to talk to my client.
THE WITNESS: Sure.
MR. CROSKERY: Let's take a break for a few
minutes and I'll get right back in here to finish you
up.
THE WITNESS: All right.
(Brief recess.)
MR. CROSKERY: Chief, I don't have any more
questions for you. I appreciate your courtesy in
coming in today.

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)
State of Ohio
)

)

I, Lee Ann Goff, Notary Public in and for the
State of Ohio, do hereby certify:
That the witness named in the deposition,
prior to being examined, was by me duly sworn;
That said deposition was taken before me at
the time and place therein set forth and was taken down
by me in shorthand and thereafter transcribed into
typewriting under my direction and supervision;
That said deposition is a true record of the
testimony given by the witness and of all objections
made at the time of the examination.
I further certify that I am neither counsel
for nor related to any party to said action, nor in any
way interested in the outcome thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have subscribed my name
and affixed my seal this 6th day of September, 2019.
________________________
Lee Ann Goff, Notary Public
Commission Number: 2019-RE-791489
My Commission Expires: 8/26/24

11 (Pages 41 to 44)

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State of Ohio 

I, Lee Ann Goff, Notary Public in and for the
State of Ohio, do hereby certify:

That the witness named in the deposition,
prior to being examined, was by me duly sworn;

That said deposition was taken before me at
the time and place therein set forth and was taken down
by me in shorthand and thereafter transcribed into
typewriting under my direction and supervision;

That said deposition is a true record of the
testimony given by the witness and of all objections
made at the time of the examination.

I further certify that I am neither counsel
for nor related to any party to said action, nor in any
way interested in the outcome thereof.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have subscribed my name

and affixed my seal this 6th da of p' mber, 2019.


I 



Lee Ann Goffyk%?tary Public

    

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I
I

Commission Number: 

My Commission Expires: 8/26/24

 

Barlow Reporting Video Services, LLC
(859) 261-8440

 

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AFFIDAVIT

STATE OF OHIO
STATE AT LARGE

I, Lee Ann Goff, a Notary Public for the State of Ohio, do hereby state that the deposition
of Eliot Isaac, having been submitted to said deponent for review and signature, has not been
signed within the time allowed under the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure, said deposition to now

have the same force and effect as though signed.

Ema/g

Lee Ann Goff

Notary Public

2019-RE-791489

My Commission Expires 08/26/2024

Sworn to me before this 16?? day of October, 2019.

. Illill:l

SEAL 
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Tina M. Barlow
Notary Public State of Ohio
My commission expires 5/16/2024

 

Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 1 of 34 PAGEID #: 711

city of

CINCINNATI
Interdepartmental Correspondence Sheet

Date:

September 9,

To:

Mayor and Members of City Council

From:

Harry Black, City Manager~

Copies to:

Paula Boggs Muething, City Solicitor
Georgetta Kelly, Director of Human Resources

Subject:

Personnel Action Jeffrey Blackwell

2015

(3

-

This memo is to inform you that this morning I terminated Jeffrey Blackwell’s
employment with the City of Cincinnati, for cause. My concerns regarding Mr.
Blackwell’s leadership of the Cincinnati Police Department (“CPD”) are not new. Mr.
Blackwell has not provided the necessary leadership to ensure a cohesive operating
environment within the department. As such, morale is at an unprecedented low level,
and the general sentiment throughout the department is that Mr. Blackwell’s leadership
style has created a work environment of hostility and retaliation.
Lack of sufficient and proper communication, particularly within the command staff,
coupled with a consistent and pervasive disregard for the chain of command, have had a
significantly negative impact on operating cohesion and effectiveness within the
department. At a time in which our City, like so many across the Country, is facing a
dangerous spike in violence, we simply cannot afford such ineffective leadership. I have
repeatedly attempted to direct and assist Mr. Blackwell in addressing these
shortcomings, but he has failed to take my direction and accordingly the problems have
persisted. Several months ago as a means of addressing CPD communications and
organizational unity issues, I solicited the assistance of an outside facilitator to conduct
a team Büil?Iing session withM~Bl~k~ëlf~ifd top command~ff~However, thi~ffort
did not lead to an improvement in working conditions within the department.
These concerns and others motivated me to conduct an exhaustive review of matters
relating to the police department. This investigation uncovered serious problems with
management and leadership. It is for that reason, and the reasons I will detail further
below, that terminating Mr. Blackwell was the first and most important step toward
creating a climate in the CPD that will allow it to flourish internally and provide our
officers with peace of mind relating to their command structure. An effective leadership
structure is essential for our officers to be able to focus their energy on the important
and dangerous jobs we have charged them with performing in communities across the
City of Cincinnati.
As the chief executive officer of this municipal corporation, I owe it to the men and
women of the Cincinnati Police Department to understand the climate within which

Exhibit 1 1

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they have been required to work, to acknowledge that despite those dire conditions our
officers have continued to serve with distinction and honor, to further acknowledge that
it is unreasonable to expect these officers to continue to serve with distinction in the
existing toxic environment, and that it is my responsibility to take all necessary steps to
ensure a professional work environment for our Cincinnati police officers. To fulfill this
responsibility, I have taken a number of steps. First I reviewed the climate assessment
report (copy attached). The contents of the report led me to consult with the highest
ranking officers within the CPD command staff and civilian personnel. These one-onone conversations, some of which are memorialized in written statements attached
hereto, led to some alarming conclusions.
The formal and informal feedback solicited from a variety of sources indicates that Mr.
Blackwell uses verbal abuse and insult to convey authority. This is one of the more
troubling conclusions I have reached. It is important to note that the incidents that have
been relayed to me span the spectrum of rank, gender, and race. Individuals have been
threatened and berated, in the presence of subordinate officers, superior officers, and
members of the public. This tactic has served to damage morale and has caused a
number of officers and CPD civilian employees to seek treatment for anxiety and stress
caused by this environment. The attached statements document specific instances of
this type of behavior against Barbara Young, a police lieutenant, over a year ago, and
more recently against Assistant Chief David Bailey and a civilian employee, Director of
Communications Tiffaney Hardy. Each of the instances is corroborated by others.
Equally disturbing, a culture of hostility and retaliation instituted by Mr. Blackwell has
put the integrity of the police department at risk. In reaction to the recent story
regarding Mr. Blackwell’s use of overtime, which chronicled the use of taxpayer money,
Mr. Blackwell engaged in several documented and corroborated acts of retaliation. He
illegally threatened Assistant Chief Bailey with termination because Mr. Blackwell
believed the Assistant Chief was responsible for the story. Mr. Blackwell separately
accused Tiffaney Hardy of the same offense and ordered an “investigation” into Ms.
Hardy’s actions. These are textbook acts of retaliation. It must be reiterated that the
information reported by the CjnnfttiEnquir~ispi1iejnformation...thattheEnquirer
requested and that the City is required to share in response to such a request. The
incidents described here suggest that Mr. Blackwell expected his subordinates to risk
defying state law in order to protect his image and, when they did not, engaged in acts of
retaliation against them.
Mr. Blackwell has also demonstrated a disregard for the chain of command. Within the
CPD, as within any law enforcement organization, adhering to the procedures
established by the department and respecting the chain of command is critical to the
success of the organization. Mr. Blackwell has alienated and disregarded his executive
team
the assistant chiefs
which in turn has led to poor communication to the
remaining command staff regarding departmental changes, direction, and objectives.
Normally, the command staff would report such information to their direct reports in
the districts and other units. Under Mr. Blackwell’s management, even this basic
communication model was not followed. Instead, Mr. Blackwell hand-selected a group
of officers who are not within the leadership structure of the organization and relied
upon those individuals in order to make and communicate decisions related to the
organization.
—

—

Exhibit 1 22

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 3 of 34 PAGEID #: 713

Such actions outside the chain of command have had a direct negative impact on
departmental wide communications. As an example of ignoring chain of command and
expertise, Executive Assistant Chief Eliot Isaac described the haphazard way Mr.
Blackwell made redeployment decisions without proper deliberation, consultation, or
evaluation of the consequences for other units or divisions within the department. This
type of poor decision making and communication unnecessarily placed the public and
police officers at risk.
Morale is at unacceptably low levels, which hinders department cohesion and
effectiveness at a time of great need. The attached Climate Assessment Report,
conducted by an independent consulting firm, demonstrates that the vast majority of
the police personnel are demoralized and that Mr. Blackwell’s leadership style and
actions are to blame. Some of the negative assessments and feedback are shocking.
“81.5% of survey respondents believe the department has ineffective communications
from the Police Chief down to the Patrol Officers.” “Police Chief has not clearly defined
and communicated a strategic plan, departmental mission or direction.” “According to
the electronic survey results, on a 10-point scale (io being excellent), respondents [485
individuals surveyed] rated the overall employee morale at a 2.29.”
The findings of the climate assessment have been corroborated by my own investigation.
Executive Assistant Chief Eliot Isaac describes the morale to be at an “all-time low...
worse than the aftermath of the 2001 civil unrest.” Specialist Scotty Johnson states that
in his 29 years of service, “I have never witnessed such hostility and lack of respect for
employees. These conditions have directly contributed to the low morale and
displeasure pervasively haunting the Cincinnati Police Department.” Based on my
investigation and the climate assessment report, I have concluded that Mr. Blackwell is
the primary reason for the low morale.
Mr. Blackwell has also disregarded established procedures for issues such as overtime
assignments and has been less than forthright in describing his personal involvement in
overtime assignments when directly_questioned byjrnh~spftJw_elegtec[l~c1ershipj~f
the City and members of the City administration. Overtime documents clearly indicate
that Mr. Blackwell “pre-approves” overtime for certain individuals for matters that he
alone determines to be worthy of overtime, and does so without consultation with the
relevant officer’s commanding or supervising officers. It has also come to my attention
that certain members of Mr. Blackwell’s favored group of officers have inappropriately
received overtime benefits in excess of what was required by departmental needs. Mr.
Blackwell appears to have initiated retaliatory acts against Ms. Hardy when she raised
legitimate questions about the use of overtime. The amount of overtime given to people
close to Mr. Blackwell requires further investigation to determine whether it constitutes
mere favoritism or rises to the level of an inappropriate use of police funds.
In addition to the overtime issue, the documentation of Mr. Blackwell’s own work hours
is not credible. Mr. Blackwell’s travels are well documented and his family continues to
reside in Columbus, Ohio, but he has only taken eight hours of vacation in two years of
employment with the City. Many officers have described being unable to reach Mr.
Blackwell during critical public safety moments even at times when Mr. Blackwell was
recorded as in town. Mr. Blackwell has used so little vacation time that he “maxed out”

Exhibit 1 33

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 4 of 34 PAGEID #: 714

the amount of vacation time he can roll over into the next year, an unprecedented
accrual of vacation after only two years of employment.
I have also learned that Mr. Blackwell has failed to meet an important responsibility as
Chief of Police by failing to ensure the integrity of the work environment for the
inspections unit and work product for the internal investigations unit, both of which fall
within the Professional Standards Section. The work of the internal investigations unit
is of the utmost sensitivity and importance. It is critical that the work of this unit
remains unimpeachable. And yet, Mr. Blackwell failed to ensure adequate tracking of
reports and in some instances lost reports that were submitted to him for final review
and failed to timely review and release reports from the internal investigations unit with
some reports languishing on his desk for as long as six months to one year.
The attached statements of officers Barbara Young and Ryan Smith demonstrate that
Mr. Blackwell engaged in retaliation against the inspections unit for raising legitimate
questions about the integrity of their work space for conducting inspections and simply
uprooted the unit into an inappropriately secure space without consulting the
commanding officer or supervising assistant chief. The statements indicate that Mr.
Blackwell went so far as to verbally abuse Lt. Young in the presence of her subordinate
officers, without her supervising officers present or even aware of the actions Mr.
Blackwell was taking.
Mr. Blackwell also summarily ended the authority of the unit to conduct overtime
audits. As a recommendation of the City’s Internal Audit team, these audits were
conducted quarterly by the inspections unit and had been conducted as such for several
years. In order to conduct these audits, the inspections unit would randomly identify
officers throughout the department and perform a simple audit by ensuring that each
officer had completed the appropriate forms and that all necessary signatures were
obtained for each overtime expenditure. When a member of the Quality of Life
Enhancement Team complained to Mr. Blackwell that his/her overtime was the subject
of such an audit, Mr. Blackwell summoned Lt. Young into his office. He then proceeded
to question her authority to conduct the audits and to admonish her for conducting the
quarterly audits without the benefit of a conversation with her commanding officer. The
inspections unit has not completed an overtime audit since that incident in early 2014.
Another conclusion reached through interviews with members of the department is that
Mr. Blackwell has an unprofessional obsession with publicity and self-promotion, even
at the expense of management and the morale of the police department. A particularly
egregious and insensitive example is Mr. Blackwell taking “selfies” along the procession
route of slain officer Sonny Kim. Mr. Blackwell was in a car that was traveling the
procession route, from which he took “selfies,” and then later walked along the
procession route taking “selfies” with citizens along the route, in a manner that was
more reflective of a parade rather than a funeral procession. The climate assessment
report also reports widespread complaints about Mr. Blackwell’s focus on his own
publicity and self-promotion.
Mr. Blackwell also used his position to extract tickets to sporting events from then
Commander of the Central Business District, Capt. Paul Broxterman. On several
occasions Mr. Blackwell, either personally or thru his staff, would request that team
4

Exhibit 1 4

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contacts be utilized to acquire tickets for his personal use for an upcoming game. He
was provided with access to tickets at no cost, however, upon repeated requests, Capt.
Broxterman became increasingly uncomfortable in reaching out to his contacts on
behalf of Mr. Blackwell. Finally, Mr. Blackwell was offered access to tickets at full price;
once he was informed of the cost associated with the tickets, Mr. Blackwell was no
longer interested in acquiring tickets for that game.
This is only a summary of the reasons leading to my decision to terminate Mr.
Blackwell. Sadly, there are many other failures and instances that have contributed to
my decision. I thank the brave women and men in uniform for their dedication and
service to the City and the civilian work force that works hand in hand with our officers
to ensure that the police are able to effectively perform their duties. It is my duty and
responsibility to these employees of the City of Cincinnati, and to the citizens of this
City, that has led me to make this very difficult but necessary decision. Cincinnati has
come a long way through hard work, critical self assessment, and engaging the
community. It would be a failure to allow poor, or at least incomplete, leadership at the
top of the CPD to jeopardize the progress made. If a Police Chief is adept at community
relations but completely fails to communicate his vision or to explain to subordinates
how the department’s deployment plans are designed to improve community relations,
his strength in that area is completely wasted.
This is a critical time in the country and in Cincinnati for relations between law
enforcement and the citizenry, and the department needs to move forward. We are
reaching out to community leaders and stakeholders during this time of transition. We
will also be communicating internally to ensure that the members of the police
department are kept abreast of important matters during transition. It is essential for
the officers on the street, their supervisors, and the whole chain of command to
experience clear, uniform communication through the leadership structure; equal
treatment and authority appropriate to rank; respect and appropriate protocol in
correction and discipline; and support rather than retaliation in the face of constructive
complaints or suggestions. If we do not ensure that our police officers feel this support
within the department, we risk attrition,~p~thy, and eid~tjQ~atjm_Qf.jjepartment~
values in the long term.
To ensure continuity in police department operations and also to take the first step in
forward movement described above, effective this morning, I made the following
interim appointments:
Eliot Isaac, Interim Chief of Police
David Bailey, Interim Executive Assistant Chief of Police
Douglas Wiesman, Interim Assistant Chief of Police
These appointments will begin the process of allowing the department to heal itself and
quickly reestablish operational integrity, communications, and moral cohesion and
stability. I will be working with the command team to permanently fill all leadership
vacancies. I will keep you apprised.

Exhibit 1 5

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Personal Statements

Exhibit 1 6

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 7 of 34 PAGEID #: 717
7-10-14

Kathy Harrell, FOP President
Queen City Lodge 69
1900 Central Parkway
Cincinnati, Ohio 45214

President Harrell,

I, Barbara M. Young, Commander of Inspections Unit, respectfully submit the following
response to a meeting held in the Chiefs Conference Room held on July 8, 2014, at 3:00pm.
Background:
• Inspections Unit was told approximately 3 months prior to this meeting that they were
going to move from the Spinney Complex to District One. Safe Streets was moving from
District One into Inspections Unit’s space at the Spinney Complex. I was informed this
was in the best interest of the Department.
• There was a meeting between Captain Russ Neville, Captain Tern Theetge, Lieutenant
John Cordova and myself regarding the specifics of the move. Basically, we all agreed
we would make the new space for Inspections Unit comparable to the original space at
Spinney in space and security.
o Carpet and paint for Inspections would be looked into for next year’s budget
o Locks- all doors would get locks
o Looking into getting a door in between the Quality of Life Office and Inspections
Unit Office closing off access to the other offices and keeping Inspections Unit
secure.
o We were unsure who Vonda Morgan worked for, but were assured she would be
moving out of the Inspections Unit new space prior to us moving.
o Numerous other issues like moving companies, completed forms, dates ect.
• Inspections Unit personnel were not excited with the move, BUT complied with the
diië~tive, assi~tëdWitWthe packing and unpackiii~fofthe move andëleanedtliëóld
space to make it acceptable for Safe Streets personnel.
• Safe Streets personnel left their location at District One extremely dirty with a mound of
trash, debris and broken furniture in the middle of the office area.
• Vonda was still in her cubicle after the move, directing not so professional comments at
Inspections Unit personnel, while stating “1 will not leave my space until I am personally
told to leave by Chief Blackwell”.
• Under my direction due to the prior meetings with my superiors, Inspections Unit
personnel contacted facilities management to inquire about putting a door between the
two offices and having locks put on the doors.
• I assisted in every effort to clean, move furniture and debris, and make the necessary
agreed upon changes to assist with a professional secure work site for the Inspections
Unit.

Exhibit 1 7

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Meeting:
• At 2:45pm, I was told by Sabrina that the Chief would like to have a meeting with
Inspections Unit personnel in the Chiefs Conference Room. Sergeant Abe Lawson,
Sergeant Ryan Smith, Sergeant Brian Norris and I attended the meeting. Chief Blackwell,
Lieutenant Emmitt Gladden and Sergeant Donna Dees were also present for the meeting.
I had no idea what the meeting was about, I thought maybe the Chief was welcoming us
to District One and inquiring what we are responsible for within the Department. I was
wrong.
.
As we were taking our seats, Chief Blackwell turned to me in front of my 3
subordinate sergeants and started to personally attack me for 45 minutes. He
started out with saying how he had heard I was unhappy about the move and that
if that was the case he would transfer me immediately. Chief stated that I had
personally brought down the morale with negativity for the entire 2~’ floor. He
asked who was Ito ask for doors and locks and if I knew who can authorize such
purchases? The Chief stated there was no reason to lock up our files or lock the
doors. He said our Department is not under CALEA anymore. Inspections Unit
personnel can lock their desk drawers. Chief made it clear that Inspections Unit’s
Office was to be open access 24/7. The Chief went on to say I had no authority to
request paint and carpet. The facility we moved into was good enough for Safe
Streets personnel and it is definitely good enough for Inspections Unit. Why do I
think Inspections Unit deserves carpet and paint?
•

I had been in our new office for only 4 days following the directives from my
superiors. I had only talked to 2 individuals, other than Inspections Unit
personnel the whole 4 days, Michelle Faulkner and Officer Lisa Johnson. Officer
Johnson was a tremendous help in organizing the office and moving certain desks
into the Quality of Life Office. Michelle Faulkner was using the central copier
and I explained, as I was told by my superiors, that we would be locking the doors
soon and I believed a new copier would be provided for her use. But until that
time, please go ahead and use this one. All of the plans for Inspections Unit new
office space were discussed prior to the move, however now I believe now that no
one had told the other office personnel on the second floor.

Conclusion:
• This is definitely the most unprofessional meeting I have ever been involved in
over the last 24 years with the Department. I felt I was personally attacked and
degraded by Chief Blackwell without cause and in front of the sergeants I
supervise.
• The Chief did not consult with my direct supervisor, Captain Tern Theetge or
even Ltc Paul Humphries over the issues he perceived with the move. If he would
have consulted with his command personnel he would have been aware of the
directives given to me. Where was the communication? Who did he get his
information from? Inspections Unit personnel has no prior complaints.
• Moving from an office with a security system and locked doors, directives from
my supervisors, I was doing exactly what I was directed to do in trying set up the
most effective, efficient and professional work space for the inspections Unit.
BMY

Exhibit 1 8

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 9 of 34 PAGEID #: 719

September-8, 2015
Subject: Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell
I know Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell to be a good man. As the Cincinnati police chief, I think he
had the best of intentions to serve the city well. However, I believe there were times where his
conduct was unprofessional, and overall, his management style did not foster a healthy
environment within the Cincinnati Police Department.
From May 2013, to August 2014, I served as the Central Business Section Commander. Part of
my duties involved being a liaison with the Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals. During
that time, there were several occasions where the chief asked me, either personally or thru one
of his staff members, to reach out to my team contacts to get him tickets for an upcoming
game. Although I was uncomfortable in doing this, on two or three occasions, I was able to get
him tickets at no cost. As the chief made repeated requests, I became increasingly
uncomfortable in reaching out to my contacts. I believed the chief sensed this, because when
he made a request on one particular occasion, he stated he would be willing to pay for the
tickets. When I told his staff member how much the tickets would be, the chief was no longer
interested in getting tickets for that game.
One evening, Cincinnati Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis asked Chief Blackwell to stop by the
stadium and address his team after a team meeting. The chief gave a five to ten minute
speech. As he was walking out of the meeting room, Chief Blackwell turned towards the team
and stated, “I need tickets.”
The Central Business Section has a small number of personnel. As the commander, I was
always politicking to get more officers, as were all my fellow commanders. One particular day
in 2013, Chief Blackwell attended a second shift roll call. He told the officers and myself he was
going to increase our staff significantly within a week. That promise was never filled.
Unfortunately, it was a common theme during his tenure. He would promise transfers and
reallocation of personnel frequently, but rarely would it occur.
From August 2014, to June 2015, I served as the Patrol Administration Commander. During my
time on the administration floor of headquarters, I experienced first-hand the dysfunction and
lack of communication the chief had with his assistant chiefs. There are two sides of the
administration offices —the chief’s office is on one side and the assistant chiefs’ offices are on
the other. My office was next to the assistant chiefs’ offices. I believe I saw the chief visit one
of his assistant chiefs’ offices once during my 10 months in that assignment. I listened to the
assistant chiefs’ frustration regarding the lack of communication and direction the chief had
with them. They clearly felt powerless in the day-today operations of the Department.
As a member of the command staff, I feel that the Department currently lacks direction.
Unfortunately, I believe the chief has little regard for the opinions and suggestions of his
commanders. Instead, he relies on the counsel of his inner circle. The chief’s inner circle, which
1

Exhibit 1 9

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 10 of 34 PAGEID #: 720

includes non-supervisors and civilians, is often allowed to circumvent the chain of command,
leaving middle managers and command officers powerless. I believe morale among command
officers is the lowest I have seen in my 27 years with the Department.
There is no doubt Chief Blackwell has excelled in community outreach. He is passionate in
reaching out to the youth in our city and he strives to provide them with guidance and hope.
Sadly, he has failed to do the same within our Department.

Respectfully,

Captain Paul F. Broxterman, Jr.
Professional Standards Section Commander

Exhibit 1 10

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 11 of 34 PAGEID #: 721

147.03 R.C.

I

/‘I

Facing the possibility of a no confidence vote orchestrated by the Fraternal Order of Police,
Chief Jeffrey Blackwell called a news conference on 9/2/15 in which he appeared to be
outraged and shocked by this action. It is my intention for this document to illustrate the level
of dysfunction caused to the Cincinnati Police Department under the management (not
leadership) of Chief Jeffrey Blackwell. Keep in mind this document in no way will capture all of
the events which have adversely impacted this agency over the two year reign of Chief
Blackwell but they will provide at least my perspective of the current internal climate.

Management Team
in most functional police agencies business is conducted through regular collaboration with the
Department’s top commanders. From the onset, Chief Blackwell essentially ignored
recommendations from his command staff and instead set up an alternative advisory team who
he considered as “loyal”. This group would regularly meet behind closed doors and make
determinations regarding a myriad of operational issues. Once these decisions were made,
they were sometimes never even so much presented as at least general information to the
senior command staff. Initially, this body, referred to throughout the Department as the “real
command staff”, consisted of Ms. Ellie Topham, Ms. Sabrina-Burton Simonson, Lt. Emmet
Gladden, Lt. Lisa Davis and members of the Public Information Office. Recently, however, the
Police Chief alienated members of the Public Information Office and replaced their involvement
~ was unIiñiT~id~d unsupervised
overtime and on call status city owned cars, which was the subject of recent investigative
media reports. Ms. Topham, not having the ability to receive overtime, was reportedly
promised an expanded role in the Department. Officers in the field soon became resentful
about what was perceived to them as the unfettered squandering of overtime by the Police
Chief’s Staff while their overtime is constantly scrutinized and limited by Department
supervisors. Although the Police Chief denied personally authorizing this overtime at a recent
Law and Public Safety Committee meeting held on 8/31/15, Department commanders have
indicated otherwise and have documentation to support their claims.

Exhibit 1 11

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 12 of 34 PAGEID #: 722

Control of Auditing and Internal Investigations Functions
Prior to Chief Blackwell’s tenure, the Department Inspection Section had the responsibility for
various auditing functions. These audits were designed to alert Department commanders to
any irregularities that may need additional investigation or correction before they became
more serious issues. When the Inspection Section attempted to conduct an overtime audit of
the Quality of Life Team, Lt. Barb Young was told by the Police Chief they did not have his
authority to conduct the audit and were told to cease auditing functions until told otherwise.
Their Inspections Section office was immediately moved from the Spinney Field complex to the
second floor of 310 Ezzard Charles Drive presumably for control or humiliation purposes. The
unit was then later reassigned to report directly to Chief Blackwell.
When I took over the Support Bureau, I installed a new Lieutenant, Jay Johnstone, as
commander of the Youth Services Unit. Lt. Johnstone and I agreed the unit utilized an
inordinate amount of overtime prior to us being assigned to the bureau. To make sure the unit
was operating in accordance with Department standards, I requested Inspections Section
conduct a top-down audit of the entire operation. Chief Blackwell denied the request
indicating this was not a priority for the Department.
Internal Investigations Section was also reassigned under Chief Blackwell after the Chief
expressed his disagreement with the prosecution of the Police Officer Kevin Jones case. After
he indicated in a staff meeting the Department had no right prosecuting Officer Jones, he then
admonished the investigating Sergeants Brent McCurley and Don Scalf for planning a meeting
to discuss the incident with the prosecutor. Shortly thereafter, Lt. Emmet Gladden issued an
email directing an organizational change placing Internal Investigations Unit directly reporting
to the Police Chief.
Once the Police Chief managed to take over the Internal Investigations Section, cases
languished for long periods of time before being resolved. It is my opinion Chief Blackwell took
control of these functions to have the ability to personally manipulate investigations and audits.
Unfortunately, these decisions have exposed the Department and City to undue risk.

Exhibit 1 12

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 13 of 34 PAGEID #: 723

Self-Promotion
Perhaps the most offensive component of Chief Blackwell’s administration has been his
obsession with his own promotion. In addition to routinely not being punctual, events and
meetings have been held up even longer while the Police Chief’s entourage gets in proper
position to take photographs and video footage at his direction. These photographs
supplement the scrap book compiled daily by the Police Chief’s receptionist.
Claiming to be national expert on civil unrest due to his involvement with the Collaborative
Agreement (short of him reading the agreement I know of none), Chief Blackwell was not shy
about becoming involved in the incidents in Ferguson and Baltimore. Chief Blackwell was quick
to grab the national spotlight and criticize those departments handling of those incidents well
before the actual facts were ever made public. Ironically, Chief Blackwell was able to opine on
a national platform on how other cities should be conducting their affairs, when he was unable
to communicate even a most basic operational plan or strategy to his own department.
In my opinion the most repulsive act occurred during the funeral services for fallen officer
Sonny Kim. Once again, Chief Blackwell used this tragedy as an opportunity to gather more
photographs and public exposure. In fact, during the procession to the cemetery, Chief
Blackwell and his carload of guests treated the procession as if they were part of a parade
driving from one side of the road to the other and leaning out the window waving at bystanders
and taking selfies. As one could imagine, officers involved in this event were embarrassed and
outraged.
Instead of promoting the City of Cincinnati and the Department as some have claimed, Chief
Blackwell’s travels have been viewed by the rank and file as self-serving and arrogant.
Communication
This is the easiest topic to cover because there is little communication. Despite
recommendations to increase communications with the Department’s command staff after a
mediation attempt in the latter part of 2014, communication became even more deficient.
Chief Blackwell attempted to have lunch with a few Captains and set a schedule of standing
staff meetings on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Sadly, most of those meetings never
occurred due to cancellation by the Chief Blackwell. Sometimes we would be waiting as long
as a half hour in the conference room for the meeting to start before someone from his office
would advise us the Chief would not be able to attend.

Exhibit 1 13

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 14 of 34 PAGEID #: 724

In many cases the Chief would go out of town and not communicate this information to the
Assistant Chiefs. In some of those cases, nobody was even designated as the Acting Police Chief
in the event of a critical situation. Even when critical events did occur, there we some
instances where the Police Chief would supposedly be in town but could not reached.
In the office setting, I was not welcome to visit the Police Chief’s office when I had issues. I was
only admitted to the office after being formally summoned by Lt. Emmett Gladden and Ms.
Sabrina Burton-Simonson. Chief Blackwell acted as if he was too important to personally ask
me to his office.
Chief Blackwell even tried to prevent communication between the senior command staff and
the rank and file. Annual In-Service Training affords the Police Chief or an Assistant Chief one
hour to update personnel on the direction of the Department. For the 2014-2015 training Lt.
Lisa Davis informed the Police Academy Commander, Captain Douglas Wiesman, the Chief did
not want the Assistant Chiefs speaking in this forum. Instead, she would assist producing a
video of the Police Chief delivering the message to one of the classes and have it taped for
future discussions when the Police Chief could not personally appear. This was met with anger
and disgust by personnel having to watch the video. In one of the classes, I decided to
personally address the group. A female officer sat though my presentation and at the end she
thanked me coming and asked, “How much longer do we have to put up with this?” (Referring
to Chief Blackwell)?”
Treatment of Personnel
There is no doubt in my mind the Chief has created the most divisive atmosphere I have ever
seen in this Department. The problems started with the Police Chief’s staff, or entourage, who
were from the beginning allowed free reign. Shortly thereafter, some developed a level of
arrogance-that-rendered-them unpleasant and abusive toward coworkers and subordinates.
The climate in and around the Police Chief’s office is degraded to the point we now have a
record number or personnel seeking psychological services to cope with the work environment.
Others have simply filed hostile work environment complaints. Sadly, Chief Blackwell is
attempting to make the problem even worse by perpetuating dissention along racial lines.

Exhibit 1 14

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 15 of 34 PAGEID #: 725

For me personally, the struggles with Chief Blackwell started when I attended a meeting and
had a puzzled look on my face regarding a comment made by Lt. Lisa Davis which was later
brought to my attention by the Chief. A short time later, I received a performance evaluation
noting my facial expressions. It is my opinion, Lt. Davis at a minimum had input on my
evaluation. For the most part after I filed a grievance relative to the evaluation, there was a
period of relative peace where Chief Blackwell would simply just ignore many of my requests or
initiate conversation only when he needed something handled. Recently, however, Chief
Blackwell has made accusations indicating I was the one responsible for initiating news stories
surrounding overtime and Department spending. In one conversation Chief Blackwell
suggested I would no longer be working here (CPD) while in another he threatened
Insubordination charges. At the Law and Public Safety Committee meeting on 8/31/15, Chief
Blackwell indicated I would not be needed to provide testimony on the new District Five facility
project despite being requested to do so by the Committee Chair, Councilmember Christopher
Smitherman. I had to leave the meeting only to return an hour or so later after being recalled
by Councilmember Smitherman.
Conclusion
I have been involved in this agency for over 28 years and I have seen a number of
administrations. I have seen screaming sessions, back biting and I personally have been called
my share of names. Some of that is to be expected when a lot strong personalities get in the
room and discuss passionate issues. I’ve participated in a number of strong arguments but at
the same time understood everyone in the room is seeking the same thing How best to take
care of our people and protect our citizens. I also realize I am not always right but I at least
listen to those around me who can help. Chief Streicher and Chief Craig both would come to
the table and listen to those they thought could help them succeed. Both of those leaders had
the mindset they were here to serve their agency..an&thecommunity.
—

It is my opinion; Chief Blackwell came to this agency with a much different idea of how the
Department and citizens can serve him. Due in part to this thinking the Department has
suffered great damage. Even in the worst of times, I have never seen this Department in such a
state of hopelessness. The strength in this agency has always been the ability of our front lines
to soldier on and accomplish the mission in spite of administrative shortcomings at the top of
the organization. I look at the faces of our front line personnel and supervisors and can clearly
see they feel as if they have been marginalized and beat by this administration. The toughest
thing for me is I have served with these people and know many of them personally. Some of
them look to me for answers but often I can offer little.
At a time where the City administration has made public safety a priority and has clearly done
their part, I feel as if the police leadership has failed in this regard.

Exhibit 1 15

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 16 of 34 PAGEID #: 726

The current morale of the Cincinnati Police Department appears to be at an all—time low. In my current role as
Executive Assistant Chief and in my prior position as a Police Captain, ii has been common place for rank and file
officers to tell that they feel unsupported by Chief Blackwell. These officers convey that their peers who are
assigned to uniform patrol feel taken for granted by the Chief and have no clear direction from the top. Many have
expressed that the work environment is worse than the aftermath of the 2001 civil unrest. Listed below are my
observations regarding Chief Blackwell’s interactions with Tiffany Hardy and Assistant Chief Dave Bailey.
During the past four or five months, I have noticed a clear downward spiral of professional decorum with Chief
Blackwell in his interactions with members of the department staff One such interaction occurred in late June 2015,
during the planning process for Officer Sonny Kim Funeral. I was assigned as a Captain to the Police Department’s
Patrol Administration Section. I was tasked with assisting with officer deployment and funeral logistics. While
attending a meeting of all department Captains, essential Lieutenants, Assistant Chief’s (at the time Jim Whalen and
Dave Bailey) and the Chief was when I realized things were becoming extremely unprofessional. The chief was
running late for the meeting and the assistant chiefs decided to proceed. Chief Blackwell called via telephone and
directed Tiffany Hardy, a civilian member of the department, to stop the meeting until he arrived. Ms. Hardy clearly
feeling uncomfortable at the directive asked me to assist. I agreed and conveyed the chief’s message to Assistant
Chief Bailey. Assistant Chief Bailey chose to proceed with meeting.
Upon Chief Blackwell’s arrival he entered the meeting noticeably irate but allowed the meeting to continue.
Following the meeting he immediately summoned Ms. Hardy and Ito his office where he immediately asked,
“Which one you wants to explain to me where the ball was dropped.” I responded that I had no idea what ball was
dropped. He demanded an explanation of Ms. Hardy as to why the meeting was not stopped. She stated the she
passed the request on to me. I explained the directive was passed on to the highest ranking staff member in the room
but the meeting still proceeded. He stated, “Okay, I will deal with him.” Chief Blackwell then proceeded to berate
Ms. Hardy in front of me regarding a typed error on a Facebook post she completed. He told her she was making too
many mistakes, she was smarter than that, and she needed to better. Chief Blackwell’s tone was very demeaning
and belittling toward Ms. Hardy. She was very visibly shaken and unnerved.
On July 27, 201 5, 1 was appointed to the Executive Assistant Chief position and assumed the duties of the Support
Bureau Commander. During first week, Assistant Chief Whalen, Assistant Chief Bailey and I were summoned to
Chief Blackwell’s office. This was the first meeting that I was included in as a member of the senior staff (Chief and
Assistant Chiefs). On this occasion Chief Blackwell was noticeably irate as the meeting began and immediately
asked Assistant Chief Bailey for a written report regarding patrol deployment for the Summer Safety Plan. Assistant
ehief-Bai ~ l~-Iia~ respondëtWi~iii~id~ñfth~t
prevented him from being in the office to complete it. They began to debate the issue in a heated exchange that
resulted in nothing being accomplished and everyone leaving the room frustrated. Assistant Chief Whalen noticing
my astonishment stated to me, “See why we can’t get anything done.”
In the following weeks I attempted to mediate the relationship between the Chief and Assistant Chief Bailey by
engaging in individual conversations with both, however, I achieved little success. Chief Blackwell told me during
one conversation that if Bailey did not change he was going to banish him out of headquarters to an off-site location
in the same manner that former Chief Streicher did with then Assistant Chief Janke.
During this time period communication between Chief Blackwell and the senior staff was either minimal or
contentious, until the media presented a story regarding the use of overtime in the department. During conversations
with the Chief he blamed Assistant Chief Bailey for creating the media story and providing the media with
information about him. During that same period of several days, I was having a conversation with Assistant Chief
Bailey when he was summoned to the Chief’s office. Assistant Chief Bailey was in with Chief Blackwell for
several minutes when lie exited appearing extremely distraught. Assistant Chief Bailey then stated to me that the

Exhibit 1 16

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 17 of 34 PAGEID #: 727

chief threatened to fire him. Follnwinc~ the ineetin’ Chief’ l3lackwell explicitly told inc to longer try to mcd ate as ic
was done with Bailey.
A few days later at the department’s Cincystat fleeting a confrontation between Chief Blackwell and Assistant Chief
Bailey occurred again. A few minutes prior to the start of the meeting Assistant Chief Bailey and I were seated in a
row of three chairs arranged in the front the room with an open seat between us where we placed our hats and
folders. The Chief entered the room and approached Assistant Chief Bailey and told him to move over So he conic!
sit in the chair Assistant Chief Bailey was sitting in. Assistant Chief BalIc) responded by stating that he would move
to another chair so there would be mote room for us all to sit. The Chief sternly responded, “Sit right here, that’s an
order.” This forced the three us to sit right next each other as other seats were available and in manner that we had
not done in prior meetings in the same location. Assistant Chief Bailey sat clown visibly shaken and upset. The
conversation was witnessed by the rest of the command staff and as the City Staff was entering the room. I
overheard several of the Captains comment that it was verb demeaning and belittling on the part of the Chief to treat
someone in that manner.
Finally, on Monday 8—3 1—15. during the morning staff meeting an additional argument occurred between Chief
Blackwell and Assistant Chief Bailey. Fhe Chief began his discussion by directing Assistant Bailey and Ito
designate units to be either eliminated or downsized in order to place officers hack into the Districts needing
personnel. Both Bailey and I agreed that a redeployment of personnel was needed hut did not think it was best to do
it on the fly and especially in the presence ofaclministrative personnel who were also in the room. The Chief
refused to listen and vehemently demanded that we designate the people because he was tired of the criticism. An
argument ensued between Bailey and the Chief as we haphazardly chose personnel to reassign. The Captains were
all called and ordered to report immediately to headquarters and were told to choose personnel by the end of the day
to reassiuzn.
During my first month as an assistant chief I have tried to assist the chief by aiding in processing administrative
work that several of the Captains have complained that were never processed. Specifically Internal Investigation
Summaries have been a point of concern as both the current and prior commanders complained about the failure of
approvals for cases that required discipline. I was able to convince the chief to allow ne to process a few but not the
entire backlog. Additional lv, I instructed his aclj utant. Lieutenant Gladden. on how to show the chief to formally
finalize Use Force investigations and other cases in our Lmployee Tracking System (ETS). I have attempted to
mediate the relationship between the Chief and Assistant Chief I3ailey with little success. It has clearly deteriorated
over the past two years and is sadly beyond repair.

Eliot K. Isaac

Exhibit 1 17

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 18 of 34 PAGEID #: 728

9/8/15
Leadership observations pertaining to Chief Jeffrey Blackwell.
Captain Michael John, Badge C4
At the request of Paula Boggs Muething, I was requested to provide a written account of my personal
observations and experience regarding the management practices of Chief Jeffrey Blackwell.
I was assigned to the Chief’s Office during Chief Blackwell’s initial three months, prior to my promotion
to Captain in January 2014. I recognize, two of the three assistant chiefs reporting to Chief Blackwell
had been in direct competition with him for the position of Chief, and the third had previously competed
for the position prior to the appointment of James Craig. This caused an obvious climate of discord from
the onset.
Professionalism:
Chief Blackwell quickly forged relationships with community stakeholders and activists. This was
facilitated with his close relationship with Specialist Scotty Johnson and his sister Sergeant Julian
Johnson. With Tiffany Hardy, Chief Blackwell became a very public figure and was gifted at connecting
with the community, youth and the media. His persona in public was very large, and he has clear
confidence in this arena. He was professional and likeable.
In terms of his demeanor “in house” within the confines of the police department, Chief Blackwell did
not make the same connections, and over time, his relationships with former Assistant Chiefs
Humphries and Whalen declined. Whalen was always professional, and always respected the office of
the Chief. Chief Blackwell’s relationship with Assistant Chief Dave Bailey has become counterproductive.
At a recent CincyStat meeting attended by Mr. Black, and Department heads, Chief Blackwell argued
over a seating preference with Colonel Bailey and told him to sit in a certain chair, stating “That’s a
fucking order.”
—

Personally, while on scene of a partial building collapse on Liberty Street, Chief Blackwell was obviously
unhappy with oversight of the incident. I had briefed Lieutenant Colonel Whalen regarding traffic posts,
pedestrian control, and requests for assessment by the Fire Department and Buildings and Inspections.
Officers on scene had secured the area, and were handling the operations in a calm manner. Chief
Blackwell approached me and questioned the manner in which I was handling the scene. He raised his
voice and told me to act with a sense of urgency, since the building was poised to topple over this is
was not possible, absent a sideways force. He was visibly upset, and voiced his concerns as live media
was airing. Later Chief Blackwell ordered me to his office and advised me to develop a different
leadership style than my “mentor” Lieutenant Colonel Whalen.
—

Communication:
Communication within the command ranks has been poor. Chief Blackwell publically has spoken of his
desire for a “Robust Youth Engagement Platform” this has not been articulated to an operational
—

Exhibit 1 18

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 19 of 34 PAGEID #: 729

degree to the command staff. Personnel allocation is determined by the Chief. Clear recommendations
have been made regarding preferred staffing levels, and what they may be able to provide for minimal,
adequate and preferred service levels. These recommendations were prepared by crime analysts using
standard nationwide policing models. On several occasions, the Chief has reviewed personnel
distribution and made initial commitments to re-allocate personnel, only to change his mind. This
provides false hope of additional field support during times of heavy service demand. Each District
Captain contributed to a summer deployment plan for enhanced patrols, and focused enforcement
efforts on those involved in offenses of violence. This was summarized and presented to the chief in
written form, but was not mobilized. At the last CincyStat meeting, Chief Blackwell advised 30 extra
officers were added to patrol during the 90 day summer safety initiative. Outside of Youth Services
personnel conducting directed patrols in parks, the districts had no extra personnel for deployment.
Considering we tout ourselves as a data driven agency, there appeared to be no evidence, park patrols,
or additional walking patrols (mandated by the Chief) had an impact on reducing violent crime. I am
unaware if the proposed curfew initiative (part of the Chief’s 90 day plan) was enacted. The Chief’s 90
day plan was very much a departure from the initial proposal developed in conjunction with the District
Commanders. I am unaware who contributed to the plan although summer events disrupted its
implementation. As an agency, we continue to advocate CIRV as a platform for violence reduction.
Experience and results has proven CIRV to be less effective than it was upon introduction in 2007.
—

During STARS presentations, Chief Blackwell provided little if any feedback regarding conditions and
responses reported to him. Chief Blackwell appeared to have minimal confidence with Dr. Robin Engle
a national and international expert in police practice and research. A research tool has been developed
by UC which provides an enhanced model of identifying violent offenders, much more sophisticated
than the “CIRV” list. This model identifies up and coming individuals through associations who are likely
to be pre-disposed to involvement in violent offending. This database is draws on CPD information,
from Field Interview Reports, offense reports, arrest data etc. Dr. Engel presented an overview of this
tool with Dr. Murat Ozar. This model has been largely ignored, but has the potential to be far more
impactful than the “CIRV” lists.

—

Absent a select few, Chief Blackwell fails to acknowledge positive initiatives by personnel. This gives the
appearance of a distinct lack of appreciation for the efforts of those involved.
Inner Circle
Rather than consulting command staff with priority decisions Chief Blackwell appears to have
developed a core group of individuals he leans on many of whom are at the officer / specialist / first
line supervisor rank. This is NOT the internal advisory board. There is a general sense the inner circle is
self-serving and quick to expel anyone who questions, or is perceived to have questioned Chief
Blackwell’s direction See Sergeant Julian Johnson; Tiffany Hardy. At times Chief Blackwell uses this
group to communicate indirectly on his behalf. This leads to confusion over whether they are speaking
for Chief Blackwell, or themselves with a sense they cannot be questioned.
—

—

—

Exhibit 1 19

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 20 of 34 PAGEID #: 730

It is with some degree of reservation I write this, as I know it will be public record, however, as
conditions continue with this climate, moral has been compromised, and as an agency we are living a
double existence. Publically, we are a national model, engaged with the community and focused on a
strategy of collaboration to problem solve. Internally, we are dysfunctional, with poor communication,
lacking confidence in leadership, and a failure to acknowledge positive strides to serve the community.

Exhibit 1 20

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 21 of 34 PAGEID #: 731

On September 8, 2015, at 1330 hours, in Room 214 of City Hall, I met with Ms. Paula
Boggs-Muething, City of Cincinnati Solicitor, and Ms. Georgetta Kelley, City of Cincinnati
Human Resource Director. The meeting was convened at the request of Ms. Boggs-Muething
and Ms. Kelley to inquire into the current state of affairs within the Cincinnati Police Department
(CPD). Ms. Boggs-Muething and Ms. Kelley advised me that their inquiries were being
conducted at the direction of the Cincinnati City Manager, Mr. Harry Black.
During the meeting, the majority of our conversation was focused on the management of
the CPD by Chief Blackwell. Specifically discussed were organizational morale; respect, or lack
thereof, of the chain of command; organizational direction, leadership, and mission.
The following are questions posed by Ms. Boggs-Muething and Ms. Kelly followed by
my replies.
1. To what degree does Chief Blackwell abide by the chain of command when making
organizational decisions, specifically, those affecting the Special Services Section’s
traffic/motorcycle unit?
A. Among other responsibilities, as the commander of the Special Services Section, I
oversee the operation of the traffic/motorcycle unit. It has been my experience that
Chief Blackwell, or his office designee, communicates directly with the sergeant
assigned to the motorcycle unit rather than through the lieutenant who directly
commands the unit or me. Therefore, outside of the traditional and necessary chain of
command.
This process generates animosity among the officers within the section which consists
of the Gang Enforcement, Fugitive Apprehension, and Canine Squads as well as nonmotorcycle personnel assigned to the traffic unit. It also generates poor
use deployment and oversight of the motorcycle personnel by upper management
(lieutenant and captain).
Specifically, following discussions by the sergeant assigned to the motorcycle unit
with the Chief or his designee, motorcycle operations do not meet preferred methods
of operation nor do they allow for properly distributed roles of responsibility or
planned assignment.
In early 2014, I met with Chief Blackwell to discuss my concerns and asked that he
communicate with me or the traffic lieutenant to ensure his directives related to the
motorcycle unit were thoroughly completed while also allowing other operational
duties to be completed.

Exhibit 1 21

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 22 of 34 PAGEID #: 732

Chief Blackwell was receptive to my request and assured me he would discontinue
the practice of communicating directly with the motorcycle sergeant. However, the
practice never changed and in-house animosities as well as weakened oversight and
operational functions increased.
The failure to communicate with the traffic lieutenant or me, necessitated me making
the directive that all tasks directed by Chief Blackwell or his designee and overtime
incurred as a result would be noted as pre-approved by Chief Blackwell as there was
no, or minimal, knowledge on the part of the section’s upper management.
2. What is the level of direction or leadership involving Chief Blackwell regarding the
organizational operation?
A. The organizational direction provided by Chief Blackwell is minimal at best. He
rarely seeks input of the command staff (captains) or the senior command staff
(lieutenant colonels/assistant chiefs). On many occasions, personnel changes and
operational strategies were altered without any input by, or notification of, those in
the command or senior command staffs.
This lack of communication seriously impedes the ability of commanders to provide
direction to personnel assigned to them as well as greatly reduced the credibility of
the commander ultimately negatively impacting the organization’s mission and even
more so, the service provided to the community.
This lack of communication has diminished morale and increased cynicism to a 29
year low which also greatly impacts the service provided to the public we serve.

Captain Russell A. Neville

Exhibit 1 22

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 23 of 34 PAGEID #: 733

On Thursday, August 20, 2015, just prior to the beginning of the CityStat meeting for the Police
Department, I witnessed the Police Chief approach Lieutenant Colonel Bailey, who was already seated,
and direct him to remove his personal items from the chair next to him. Lieutenant Colonel Bailey
picked up his personal items and stated that he would sit on the other side of the room instead. At that
point, the Police Chief replied, “No. Sit down in that fucking seat. That’s a fucking order.” This incident
was particularly concerning as it occurred in direct view of many of the assembled police captains who
were present, as well as members of the City Administration, to include both Assistant City Managers.
In addition, it confirmed the extent of the strained relationship between the Police Chief and Lieutenant
Colonel Bailey which has permeated the Police Department for months. Incidents like these, especially
in public view, cast serious doubt on the Police Department to function effectively and cohesively as we
strongly adhere to a chain of command to ensure we are accomplishing our mission. When there is
overt friction between the two senior ranking members of the Department, that discord affects the
entire Department.

• -~

In regards to overtime authorization, it is not uncommon to review and authorize overtime slips for
individual officers where the approving authority is listed as either the Police Chief or a member of the
~ ~)~çe~ Chi~f’s immediate staff. There are numerous occurrences where a commanding officer will sign
~~à~tf’6n overtime for events not directly related to an officer’s primary assignment, such as many of our
youth engagement functions, i.e., H3 Cincy. Even though the officers may directly report to me, I would
have no knowledge of the approval or scheduling of their attendance at these functions, therefore, I
would not be the pre-approving command officer. I would rely on the notation that the overtime
occurrence was pre-approved by the Police Chief or designee in approving the overtime worked for
payment or compensation.
The current prevailing topic of discussion among most all of the command staff is that the Cincinnati
Police Department is currently in a state of dysfunction not witnessed in any of our careers and it is
universally believed that the recent departure of two members of our senior command staff is a direct
result of the lack of vision and communication perceived by numerous members.

~

3
Exhibit 1 23

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cityof

CNI

NAI

Interdepartmental Correspondence Sheet

Date:

July 10, 2014

To:

Jeffrey Blackwell, Police Chief

From:

Sergeant Ryan Smith, Inspections Unit

Subject:

Response to Meeting

—

July 8, 2014

I respectfully submit the following response to a meeting held in the Chiers Conference Room held on July 8,
2014, at 1500 hours. The following comments are strictly my response to this meeting, and do not reflect the
position of any other personnel assigned to Inspections Unit.
I respectfully submit that Inspections Unit, specifically Lieutenant Barbara Young, was maligned regarding the
recent move from Spinney Field to District One. I respectfully request that any anonymous complaints
regarding the professionalism of Inspections Unit or Lieutenant Young be aired in an open forum so that
Inspections Unit may respond in kind to refute or dispute these complaints, or apologize if said complaints are
valid. I respectfully submit that Inspections Unit has no previous pattern of conduct or alleged
unprofessionalism consistent with these anonymous allegations or perceived lack of professionalism discussed
during this meeting.
I respectfully submit that the anonymous allegations and complaints directed toward Inspections Unit,
specifically Lieutenant Young, resulted from decisions that were submitted and vetted through the chain of
command and either approved in turn or were still being explored for possible action. I respectfully submit that
Lieutenant Young was specifically rebuked for actions both real and perceived that were consistent with
carrying out the expressed orders and intent of her superior(s). I respectfully assert that Inspections Unit and
Lieutenant Young were not given adequate notice to address these allegations or to notify those senior officers
within thechainofcomm ~ in turn.
I respectfully assert that statements discussed during this meeting regarding the perceived attitude and hostility
of Inspections Unit personnel regarding this transition to the new work space were neither accurate nor
consistent with those held by the personnel assigned to Inspections Unit.
I respectfully submit that Lieutenant Young, and all assigned Inspections Unit personnel, have worked together
in a professional and highly efficient capacity to relocate to the current work space located within District One.
I respectfully submit that a casual inspection of the floors and work space of Inspections Unit would suggest
that the current work space was not previously cleaned and maintained consistent with the adjacent offices and
hallways. I respectfully submit that Lieutenant Young’s efforts and intent to clean the new work space were
entirely consistent with the best practices and leadership expected of senior officers within the Department.
I respectfully submit that Inspections Unit requires a work space that is not immediately and freely accessible to
personnel not assigned to the unit. Specifically, Inspections Unit is tasked with a review of the administrative

Exhibit 1 24

 Case:and
1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL
Doc
Filed: 10/24/19
Page:function
25 of 34of PAGEID
735
process
conduct of sworn personnel
of#:
the39-1
Department
as a reciprocal
the Internal#:Investigations
Unit, contained within the larger Professional Standards Section. Inspections Unit personnel in their
professional capacity discuss amongst themselves the actions and alleged conduct of sworn personnel sufficient
that said conversations should not be overheard by personnel not assigned to the unit. The Inspections Unit
work space as currently configured does not allow the unit to securely store sensitive files that are required to be
kept consistent with retention periods. Personnel not assigned to the unit move freely within the current work
space of Inspections Unit inconsistent with the best practices of the Inspections Unit process, and likewise
inconsistent with the process of Internal Investigations Unit and their separately secured and private work space.
I respectfully submit that I am solely responsible and accountable for this Form 17 as written.

RS

Exhibit 1 25

 Print
Page
of 1
Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 26 of 34 PAGEID
#: 1736

Subject: CPD
From:
To:
Date:

Friday, September 4, 2015 3:04 PM

Georgette,

I am writing this statement based upon the unprofessional working conditions I have witnessed within
the Cincinnati Police Department.
My office mate Tiffaney Hardy has been the target of unwarranted criticism and constant unnecessary
pressure. As a direct result of the hostile working conditions within the Department, Tiffaney is now
seeing a psychologist to assist her in dealing with the undue stress caused by her work environment.
In my 29 years of service with CPD, I have never witnessed such hostility and lack of respect for
employees. These conditions have directly contributed to the low morale and displeasure pervasively
haunting the Cincinnati Police Department.

incerely,

Scotty Johnson

https ://us-rng6.mail .yahoo .com/neo/launch?.rand=d2gn74omrs2v3

Exhibit 1 26

9/8/2015

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 27 of 34 PAGEID #: 737

On Friday, August 28, 2015, at 1600 hours in Room 214 of City Hall, I met with Ms.
Paula Boggs-Muething, City of Cincinnati Solicitor, and Ms. Georgetta Kelley, City of
Cincinnati Human Resource Director. The meeting was convened at the request of Ms. Boggs
Muething and Ms. Kelley to inquire into the current state of affairs within the Cincinnati Police
Department (CPD). Ms. Boggs-Muething and Ms. Kelley advised me that their inquiries were
being conducted at the direction of the Cincinnati City Manager, Mr. Harry Black.
Note: During my nearly 25 years with the CPD, 9 years have been spent assigned to the
Internal Investigations Unit, approximately 2 years as a Sergeant, 2 years as a Lieutenant, and 4
years as a Captain. During these tenures, I have become extremely knowledgeable andfamiliar
with how to conduct a thorough andfair investigation into an allegation ofa police officer ‘s
misconduct. I have also become knowledgeable ofthe Cincinnati Police Department’s Manual
ofRules and Regulations and the City of Cincinnati ‘s disciplinary and appeal processes.
During the meeting on August 28, 2015, the majority of our conversation was focused on
the lack of communication from Chief Blackwell to me during the time that I commanded the
Professional Standards Section, which includes Internal Investigations Unit and Inspections Unit.
We also discussed the effects this lack of communication could have on investigations conducted
by the Internal Investigations Unit into allegations of officer misconduct and the precedence it
could set for future discipline and appeals.
The following are three examples of incidents involving internal investigations that I feel
were handled poorly by Chief Blackwell due to his decision not to communicate with me:
•

•

Case #14094: On August 4, 2014, IIU received a complaint that an off-duty officer
had assaulted a known individual. After thoroughly investigating the allegation, IIU
submitted a report to Chief Blackwell on September 14, 2014, recommending the
officer receive a written reprimand for violating a section of the Department’s
Manual of Rules and Regulations. After waiting approximately 3 months for the
Chief to approve the report, I inquired into its whereabouts. The Chief advised me
that he could not locate the report and asked that it be reprinted and resubmitted to
him. I resubmitted the report to the Chief on December 30, 2014. As of the date of
my transfer from the Professional Standards Section on June 14, 2015, this report.
had not been approved and returned from the Chief. Therefore, 13 months have
passed since the incident occurred and the officer has not been disciplined and the
complainant has not been advised of its resolution.
Case #14127: On October 14, 2014, IIU received a directive from Chief Blackwell
to conduct a review of an incident that occurred in District Three which involved an
officer possibly not ensuring a prisoner who was suspected of ingesting contraband
received medical treatment in a timely manner. The lack of timely medical
treatment caused the prisoner to become unresponsive. After a thorough
investigation, IIU submitted a report to Chief Blackwell on January 26, 2015. The

Exhibit 1 27

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 28 of 34 PAGEID #: 738

•

investigation concluded the officer’s conduct did not meet Department standards and
there was a recommendation for six Sustained findings. The Chief approved the
report and findings; and according to the Department’s Disciplinary Matrix a pre
disciplinary hearing was conducted on March 30, 2015. As a result of the pre
disciplinary hearing, the Hearing Officer authored a hearing summary which
recommended the officer receive a suspension from duty. The hearing summary was
submitted to the Chief on May 20, 2015. On June 12, 2015, IIU received the hearing
summary back from the Chief without any discussion. The Chief had reversed four
of the more serious Sustained findings and allowed the two minor Sustained findings
to remain in affect. This action contradicts the Chief’s approval of the original IIU
report. Additionally, the Chief had written comments on the hearing summary
stating that the incident should never have risen to the level of an investigation and
that Planning Section was to revise two procedures that govern how CPD officers
handle an individual who is suspected of ingesting contraband. After receiving the
hearing summary, I became aware from a third party that Chief Blackwell had met
with the involved officer and allowed him to convince the Chief why he should not
be administered discipline. This meeting occurred without any communication or
input from me as the Professional Standards Section Commander.
Case #15033: On March 23, 2015, IIU was directed to conduct an investigation into
possible criminal conduct by several members of the Department. The allegation
involved the possibility that two members of the Department failed to properly
investigate an auto accident involving an off-duty officer. During the course of the
investigation, IIU met with City Prosecutors several times to determine if the
incident met the elements of a crime. Prior to a decision by the Prosecutor, I became
aware that Chief Blackwell was scheduled to meet with one of the officers alleged to
have mishandled the investigation. I became aware of this meeting approximately
30 minutes before it was to occur. I immediately went to the Chief’s office and
strongly-advise-him-not-to-meet-withihe-officer-because-IThJ-had-not-yet-determined
if criminal charges were going to be filed and I was concerned that the meeting
could be misconstrued as a Garrity interview. Chief Blackwell agreed and cancelled
the meeting. Approximately one week before I was transferred to Criminal
Investigation Section, Chief Blackwell directed the incoming Professional Standards
Section Commander to contact the aforementioned officer and determine why he
wanted to meet to discuss the alleged incident. I again stressed to the Commander
why this meeting should not occur as it could possibly hinder our ability to proceed
with criminal charges if the Garrity issue was raised. The commander ultimately
contacted the officer via phone and then advised the Chief that my advice should be
followed and a meeting should not occur.

These three examples not only demonstrate case mismanagement but also a lack of
communication and leadership by Chief Blackwell.

Exhibit 1 28

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 29 of 34 PAGEID #: 739

I spent a tremendous amount of time as the Professional Standards Section Commander
trying to manage the open cases at IIU. The most valuable tool in managing this process is a
spreadsheet that I created when I was assigned to IIU as a Lieutenant. The spreadsheet allowed
me to always know the current status of all IIU investigations. In September of 2014, I became
very concerned because Chief Blackwell was in possession of more than 20 IIU reports for more
than 60 days. I went to the Chief and asked him about the status of these cases. The Chief
advised me that he did not have any IIU reports. My oniy option was to have the respective
investigators reprint the reports so that they could be resubmitted to the Chief. Over the next few
months, IIU received the majority of these reprinted reports back from the Chief.
In December of 2014, 1 again became concerned because the spreadsheet indicated that
the Chief had a large quantity of reports for an extended period of time. After discussing this
with the Chief, he again advised that he did not have many of the reports. On December 30,
201 5, 1 again had the respective investigators reprint the reports so that they could be resubmitted
to the Chief.
In January of 2015,1 began keeping a running tally of how many reports the Chief had
and for how long he had them. It became common practice for Chief Blackwell to have between
15 to 25 reports at a time, some of them for more than six months.
The aforementioned information clearly demonstrates Chief Blackwell ‘s inability to
manage something as significant as reports which address allegations of officer misconduct.
This inability has left the Department unable to bring these cases to a resolution in a timely
manner and thereby diminishing the confidence that we strive to instill in our community and our
officers. Chief Blackwell’s lack of communication and leadership as it pertains to internal
investigations has hindered the Cincinnati Police Department’s efforts to maintain integrity and
transparency as it relates to investigating its own officers. Chief Blackwell’s actions are in direct
conflict with the following entry in the Purpose of Discipline of our Manual of Rules and
Regulations,_~iThe~publics-trust is impacted, however slightly; each time a manager adjudicates
a complaint investigation or finds that an employee’s conduct did not conform to law, policy,
procedure, or rule.”

•SWE e
~

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••.
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.~R.C.

Exhibit 1 29

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 30 of 34 PAGEID #: 740

PRIVILDGED ATTORNEY-CLIENT DOCUMENT
Testimony from Tiffaney J. Hardy, Director of Communications

Statement regarding the overtime of It. Danita Pettis
On June 2, 2015 I was approached by LT. Emmett Gladden and Lt. Danita Pettis saying they needed to
discuss something with me. They wanted to talk privately in my office, which seemed a little odd to me.
They explained that Chief Blackwell had added IT. Pettis to the Public Information Office to help out
with the rash of shootings we were experiencing at the time. It was explained then and corroborated
several times by Chief Blackwell that Lt. Pettis was to assist with the shootings overnight to provide a
consistent voice overnight. Since Sgt. Donna and I work long hours during the day, Chief Blackwell felt
adding her at night would be beneficial. Lt. Pettis began immediately assisting with shootings.
As time went along, I noticed that Lt. Pettis started attending several additional events and activities on
the Chief’s schedule. When asked by Captains and staff for clarification on her role, Chief Blackwell
indicated that she was to assist with shootings and officer-involved shootings.
On July 8th there was an incident where I was trying to clarify with Chief Blackwell information related
to a public records request regarding his calendar, travel, and his attendance at the All Star Game
festivities. Prior to this I had been regularly seeing Dr. Daum, the Police Psychologist about what I was
experiencing and the sense that the office was getting more hostile. During a verbal exchange with
Chief Blackwell, I was asking several clarifying questions to make sure I understood what he was saying.
He then said “This isn’t rocket science Tiffaney, this isn’t that hard. Come on.” He then proceeded to say
that “if I handled the situation better that this public relations mess wouldn’t be happening.” He finally
said, “I am going to let someone else handle this since you must have forgotten who you work for, that
you work for ME!” I could not believe that he would say that to me and I asked him “Did you really say
that to me? Did you REALLY just say that to me?” What concerned me the most was that I initially could
not remember this conversation or saying it to him until I remembered the conversation later that day.
It was like I blacked out the conversation entirely. I was so upset over the exchange that I left for lunch
and ended up having to leave for the day. I imme~i eJy_scheduled.anapp~Qintment with Dr. Daum.
At this point and several months prior I had been having health issues: extreme headaches, inability to
sleep, loss of appetite related to the anxiety I had been experiencing. On July 10th, I met with Dr. Daum
and explained to him the situation. He then diagnosed me with anxiety. I explained that I was
concerned about returning to the office for health reasons, so he wanted me to see my primary care
physician and he marked me off until I could be seen by my doctor on July 13. On July 13th my doctor
diagnosed me with anxiety and prescribed medications to help me deal with situation and stress in the
office. Dr. Daum then marked me off of work from July 13 through July 20th, My primary doctor also
began the process for FMLA to deal the office stress should I need it.
On August 6, I started noticing that Lt. Pettis had been attending scheduled events even though staff
from the PlO office were scheduled and present. As I began thinking of the events of that week, I
remembered that Lt. Pettis had worked our National Night Events that previous Tuesday on August 4,
2015. I thought she was attending these events on her own volition, so at approximately 1400 hours I
met with Ms. Ellie Topham, the CFD Finance Director. I explained to her my concerns about Lt. Pettis
attending events that we already had coverage for, so I was curious about the amount of overtime she
was accruing. The impetus for this was to determine the amount of overtime so that I could have a

Ii

Exhibit 1 30

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 31 of 34 PAGEID #: 741

conversation with Chief Blackwell for two reasons: 1) to inform him of the amount of overtime that was
occurring and 2) to get clarification on the roles of Lt. Pettis and her work within the PlO office. I further
explained to Ms. Topham that I was planning on using the report to have a conversation with Chief
Blackwell and ask that she not mention it to anyone.
At that time I had Sgt. Hurst from my office pull the off-day group list and schedule to determine Lt.
Pettis~ off days. To my surprise, many of her OT days coincided with off days from her assigned job
duties at the Central Business Section.
As I was discussing the off-day group process with my staff for clarification in a closed-door meeting in
my office, Lt. Pettis happened to walk by and listened to my conversation with staff members Sgt.
Donna Hurst and Police Specialist Scott Johnson. Lt. Pettis then approached us later that afternoon
saying that she had overhead the entire conversation. We had a general discussion and I explained to
her that I was concerned about the amount of overtime she was accruing and the number of events she
was attending to get clarification from Chief Blackwell. At that time, she stated that Chief Blackwell
often called her to attend these events and that’s why she was attending.
On August 6th at 3:45 pm I text Chief Blackwell, saying “We need to talk to clear the lines of
communications. Also we need to clarify Danita’s role in our office. I wanted to bring something to your
attention about the amount of overtime she’s had that’s been circulating around.
I did not receive a response from him. I attend a community National Night Out function at 6pm that day,
but the opportunity didn’t present itself to have a private, calm conversation with him.
I was on approved vacation from August 7 August 10. Upon my return on August ll~~’, I immediately
asked to meet with Chief Blackwell at 0830 hours to discuss the Lt. Pettis overtime matter with him. He
was not available to meet at that time. At approximately 1030 hours, Lt. Gladden approached me saying
he wanted to discuss something with me. We met privately in an office where he shared with me that
Chief Blackwell wanted him to “begin an investigation on when I knew or was made aware of a public
record request regarding Lt. Danita Pettis.” From Lt. Gladden’s line of questioning I explained that I had
been told Thursday night by Col. Dave Bailey that he thought that there had been a public records
request going weeks back around the time of the All Star Game. However, the first official public record
l-saw-was-on-MondayrAugust--10~-while-I-was-outon-vacation--l-aIso-expIained-to-him-that-sometimes
public records request are not always sent directly to the PlO office. Sometimes they are submitted
directly to the Records Management Section, the Law Department, or directly to the City Manager’s
Office. I also explained to Lt. Gladden that I was quite surprised at the amount of overtime It. Pettis had
received from June 2nd through July 17th, the current pay period. During that time Lt. Pettis had
accrued almost 200 hours of OT and that she had worked 21/30 work days in June. It. Gladden and I
continued our conversation and left with a better understanding of what I trying to accomplish by
pulling Lt. Pettis’ OT records which was only to bring the matter to the Chief’s attention to protect the
Department and the Chief.
—

Later that afternoon at approximately 1330 hours, I met with Chief Blackwell and Lt. Gladden. I
explained to the Chief that when I first started working for him I always said that I would have his back
and tell him the truth. I also shared that these two things were the impetus of why I pulled Lt. Pettis’
time. He quickly said that I had no right to pull her time and that he didn’t believe me. He then accused
me of orchestrating the public records request for overtime for l..t, Pettis and his entire office. He then
stated that he didn’t trust me and that he didn’t know if he would ever trust me or even work with me.
He then began to berate me in front of Lt. Gladden discussing every personnel matter, project, or things
H ~

I

(I y

1

2

Exhibit 1 31

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 32 of 34 PAGEID #: 742

he was upset about. His body language was very expressive and he raised his voice. I was quite blown
away with his actions and I felt completely deflated. That day I left for a couple of hours because I was
concerned for my own mental health and anxiety I felt in the office.

Additional Incidents
Fast forward to August 22, 2015 Chief Blackwell sent photos for me to post. I was having technical
difficulties with my phone and laptop, so I explained that I would post on Sunday. On Sunday, after
spending my off-day with family, I posted the pictures around 11pm. On Monday, August 24th there was
an early event for which PlO Sgt. Donna Hurst attended. She attended from 0745 hours until about 0830
hours. At 0836 hours, Chief Blackwell sent a text asking me to come over to the event. I explained that
Donna had been there and that she should still be there. The day was progressing along until I was
called into the Chief’s Office at about 0930 hours. Upon entering his office I wanted to discuss the
week at hand and what we needed to focus on for the day. He immediately started asking why PlO
wasn’t at the event. I explained to him that Sgt. Hurst had been at the event, taken photos, and had
already posted photos to Facebook. He said that has saw that, but we weren’t there while he was there.
He then began to talk about the weekend pictures and why they weren’t posted in a timely manner. I
explained the technical difficulties I had on Saturday, but that I had posted on Sunday. He then
proceeded to ask “why I should have a take home car, if when he needed me to come in on a Saturday
afternoon at 3pm then that’s what he needed. He further stated, “And if that meant bringing your ass in
a Sunday, it meant bringing your ass in on a Sundayt” I was quite appalled by his use of language. Again,
(felt berated and had to leave the office again for the hostile work environment that I felt. This time I
continued with one of my sessions with Dr. Daum to discuss how I was feeling. Dr. Daum documented
how I was feeling and gave me coping strategies to better deal with the stress.
Summary
In summary confidentiality, loyalty, and trust are important to me as these qualities have been the
hallmark of every single position I have held going back to working as a college intern with the U.S. EPA
Office of Civil Rights. It is with a heavy heart that I have submitted this testimony and presented facts as
I-know-them.
Chief Blackwell has had a great community engagement platform and innovative policing strategies and
for that I am thankful in how he has been able to engage the community as well as the department.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the hostility that is felt in the office currently has not always
been present. I feel that something in the course of the last six or so months has happened. The last
several months have been difficult for me and I have seen the morale of others slip. Several staff have
tried to guide Chief Blackwell by presenting our thoughts, suggestions, and ideas to make situations
better. The situation may have occurred from the political pressure, lack of support he felt, or even a
need for validation, but I felt it necessary to share that the interactions, tone, unrealistic expectations
and his level of exhibited frustration has had an adverse impact on the office.
Respectfully Submitted,

Tiffaney Hardy, Director of Communications
Cincinnati Police Department

r

U y

Exhibit 1 32

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 33 of 34 PAGEID #: 743
September 8, 2015
To me the largest issue facing Chief Blackwell is the way in which he has situated himself with the senior command staff
(assistant chiefs) and in many cases the commanders (captains). Over the past two years, Chief Blackwell has
surrounded himself with a group of individuals in the lower ranks of the Department lieutenants, sergeants, and
officers. The Chief does not regularly communicate his directives to the right people in the right positions to make
things happen. This has many times created confusion among the assistant chiefs and captains who are not part of the
decision making process to implement a change in their bureau/district/section/unit. As a result, some directives were
implemented and then had to be changed or stopped because it was not thought through properly before
implementation. This has created confusion at the higher ranks and has created lower than average morale.
—

I recently met with the Chief to help define a new SECTION of the police Department for an upcoming Captains
promotion. In that meeting, I disclosed to him that he had too much “span of control” reporting directly to him on the
Department’s Org. Chart. My recommendation was to have the assistant chief’s directly reporting to him and NO ONE
ELSE. Currently, with the people he has directly reporting to him, his span of control in my opinion is not properly
aligned. Look at the Department’s Org Chart; the Chief has unnecessary operational units reporting to him. He is the
CEO of our Organization. The Districts/Sections/Units should be positioned underneath the assistant chief’s (bureau
level) and properly aligned in a district/section/unit under the captains.
The Chief should meet with ALL of his Assistant Chiefs each day to discuss the past 24 hours of police activity, what
needs to happen in the next 24 hours, and what issues/challenges could we likely expect in the coming days, weeks,
months. Currently, these meetings are only scheduled on Mons & Weds and often the Chief cancels. I see this as one of
the most important meetings the Chief can conduct with his executive leadership team. It forces the SENIOR command
staff to communicate, make important decisions, and carry out actions within their bureaus through the captains. If this
were to actually occur, the Chief and Assistant Chief’s would be communicating daily and there would be NO
CONFUSION as the directives would flow through the right people/channels with the right message. No decisions should
be made directly to lower ranking supervisors or officers without that information being discussed with the assistant
chiefs/captains. The latter happens on a regular basis.
I find it embarrassing that we have had a captain’s promotional process in place for many months; in fact, I believe the
Chief asked the City Manager to add a captain to our compliment (we now have 13), we just promoted 2 Captains, and
they have not been transferred to a new assignment. That’s has never happened in my 25 34 year career. Right now,
Captain Aaron Jones, is still assigned to the Police Academy with me (2 captains seems odd). Captain Jones has been
told he will be transferred next week. Still no word on his assignment why wasn’t this discussed months/weeks ago
and ~ am not compl~t~l~ ertãiWthêChi~fha
fiñ~d7approved~i”new sectiöi~”Tö?This
ii13th captain”. We’ve talked about it with the Chief, but I haven’t seen anything or heard anything about the “new
—

—

section”. I’m still anxiously waiting, as are the newly promoted Captains?
When I was Acting Support Bureau Commander for four weeks, after LTC Paul Humphries retired, on several occasions,
the Chief would summon Lieutenant Jay Johnstone, Youth Service Unit Commander, to his office to initiate directives for
his unit regarding deployment of the YSU officers and other action items for the YSU to perform. Lieutenant Jay
Johnstone reports directly to the Support Bureau Commander, not the Police Chief. I became increasingly frustrated
when I was not involved in those conversations so I would know what was going on and what the YSU was expected to
carry out. A similar situation arose with Mr. Roger Wolf, Evidence and Property Management Unit. Mr. Wolf is
responsible for the Police Department’s Fleet assignments/deployment. The Chief would summon Mr. Wolf to his office
and based on requests from officers, sergeants, lieutenants, the Chief would ask for vehicle allocations and deployment
that were, in my opinion, unrealistic based on the vehicles assigned to the Police Department. In some cases, the
officers, sergeants, and lieutenants, met with the Chief to ask for a vehicle assignment, would get his permission, then
call Mr. Wolf directly and state, “...The Chief told me to call you and have you assign me a car.” Mr. Wolf and I became
very frustrated with this kind of activity. I directed Mr. Wolf NOT to assign vehicles to anyone in that situation unless it

Exhibit 1 33

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-1 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 34 of 34 PAGEID #: 744
was approved by me and I talked to the Chief. This situation never presented itself as LTC Isaac was promoted and I
returned to my assignment as the Training & Development Section Commander.
Our first Lateral Entry Officer (LEO) class was only 8 weeks in duration (Spring 2014). After the class graduated, the
entire Training Unit staff concluded that 8 weeks was not enough training for transitioning officers to perform police
services in Cincinnati; a large, busy, urban police agency. When the next LEO class was being planned, I personally met
with the Chief and strongly recommended we increase the training to 13 weeks to focus on additional tactical skills and
subject control training. He approved 10 weeks. The Training Staff spent numerous hours planning the LEO training
schedule and calendar around other trainings we conduct. One day, about halfway through the LEO class, the Chief met
with me to tell me the LEO training needed to be increased because they needed additional tactical training. I found out
later, that PC Scott Johnson had told the Chief they needed more training and it was done. The training staff had to
scramble to change the schedule to add the weeks of training, cancel our preplanned graduation date, reschedule the
graduation date with the Cincinnati Christian University. I’m so proud of the training staff and how they handled the
situation, completely professional, pulled it off and got it done. I just wish the Chief had listened to me from the
beginning. I know what I’m doing and wouldn’t make the recommendation if it wasn’t necessary and important.
I don’t have a lot of details about the reinstitution of the Mounted Patrol, but that would be an interesting question.
The Chief has stated we are bringing the Mounted Patrol back, but I’m pretty certain, no team/committee has been
formalized to make this happen. Someone did submit a written plan, but I think that is all that has happened.
In conclusion, it seems to me most of the communication problems have been created by the Chief simply ignoring or
refusing to interact at a high level on a regular basis with his executive leadership team assistant chief’s and captains.
He has taken us out of the equation and tried to run our Department with officers, sergeants, and lieutenants.
—

It has created chaos, confusion, and unnecessary back-and-forth organizational and personnel changes.
Respectfully submitted,
Captain Douglas Wiesman
Training & Development Section Commander

Exhibit 1 34

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-2 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 1 of 6 PAGEID #: 745

Exhibit 4 1

City 001181

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-2 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 2 of 6 PAGEID #: 746

Exhibit 4 2

City 001182

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-2 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 3 of 6 PAGEID #: 747

Exhibit 4 3

City 001183

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-2 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 4 of 6 PAGEID #: 748

Exhibit 4 4

City 001184

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-2 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 5 of 6 PAGEID #: 749

Exhibit 4 5

City 001185

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-2 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 6 of 6 PAGEID #: 750

Exhibit 4 6

City 001186

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 1 of 19 PAGEID #: 751

Exhibit 17 1

City 002629

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 2 of 19 PAGEID #: 752

Exhibit 17 2

City 002630

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 3 of 19 PAGEID #: 753

Exhibit 17 3

City 002631

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 4 of 19 PAGEID #: 754

Exhibit 17 4

City 002632

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 5 of 19 PAGEID #: 755

Exhibit 17 5

City 002633

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 6 of 19 PAGEID #: 756

Exhibit 17 6

City 002634

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 7 of 19 PAGEID #: 757

Exhibit 17 7

City 002635

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 8 of 19 PAGEID #: 758

Exhibit 17 8

City 002636

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 9 of 19 PAGEID #: 759

Exhibit 17 9

City 002637

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 10 of 19 PAGEID #: 760

Exhibit 17 10

City 002638

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 11 of 19 PAGEID #: 761

Exhibit 17 11

City 002639

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 12 of 19 PAGEID #: 762

Exhibit 17 12

City 002640

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 13 of 19 PAGEID #: 763

Exhibit 17 13

City 002641

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 14 of 19 PAGEID #: 764

Exhibit 17 14

City 002642

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 15 of 19 PAGEID #: 765

Exhibit 17 15

City 002643

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 16 of 19 PAGEID #: 766

Exhibit 17 16

City 002644

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 17 of 19 PAGEID #: 767

Exhibit 17 17

City 002645

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 18 of 19 PAGEID #: 768

Exhibit 17 18

City 002646

 Case: 1:17-cv-00608-WOB-KLL Doc #: 39-3 Filed: 10/24/19 Page: 19 of 19 PAGEID #: 769

Exhibit 17 19

City 002647