Cincinnati's Police Chief is firing back, after allegations he refused to allow an internal investigation of a friend on the force.
An internal memo spells out allegations that a sergeant in the mounted patrol used her friendship with Chief Tom Streicher to intimidate officers.
The Chief says that's “hogwash,” even though the memo shows one officer says he taped conversations with the sergeant asking him to lie for her.
The I-Team got raw tapes, but can't identify the individuals who held conversations including:
The tapes lie at the center of a controversy over what happened with the Cincinnati Police mounted patrol after an officer carved the number “43” – for Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu – into the mane of his police horse.
That small incident has blown into a controversy over whether a sergeant at the mounted patrol asked officers to lie for her, intimidated them, and used her friendship with Police Chief Tom Streicher to threaten retaliation if they didn't go along with her.
But Chief Streicher says there's no intimidation.
"Tell me they're afraid of her. That's a bunch of baloney. That they're intimidated? That's a bunch of baloney. Show me one case in this agency where anybody has ever had any retaliation taken against them," he says.
Chief Streicher denies the allegation in the internal police memo that six mounted patrol officers said Sergeant Elena Moton used her friendship with the Chief to “repeatedly threaten their removal from the unit.”
Streicher says, "She doesn't have the authority to transfer anybody. The authority to transfer sits right here with me."
That same memo ended with the patrol bureau commander recommending Chief Streicher refer the matter to the internal investigation section.
Streicher says he couldn't order an investigation, that it was ruined because the officers violated policy; instead of reporting Moton to their supervisors, they recorded her themselves.
"They want to conduct their own investigation here? It doesn't work that way,” says Streicher. “I will not compromise the integrity of an investigation and allow somebody to get their pound of flesh from one of our employees here."
When asked about those who say the Chief's friendship with Sgt. Moton caused him to end this investigation before it started, Streicher says, "Absolutely baloney. It's not true. There's a difference between friendship and between making business decisions and that's where I draw the line."
The Chief says he can't trust anything on those tapes because they weren't part of an official investigation under his control.
The memos indicate the officer who did the taping thought it was the only way to prove what he's alleging.
Now the whole matter sits with the city manager. He's assumed control of a complaint several officers filed against the chief and Sgt. Moton.
They've also filed complaints with the city about a hostile work environment.
The I-Team has asked the city for all of the documents and we'll follow up when we get them.
