CINCINNATI — Cincinnati officials are reviewing allegations from the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police that a city consultant is harassing several on-duty police officers.
The FOP is calling for Iris Roley to be fired in an online petition started by FOP President Ken Kober. The petition alleges that Roley "has been caught on body cam multiple times harassing police officers for doing their jobs."
As of Saturday evening, the petition has more than 2,400 signatures. It has a goal of 5,000 signatures.
"Despite clear misconduct, the city continues to fund her contract with taxpayer dollars," the petition alleges.
On the petition, the FOP also posted two body camera videos where Roley allegedly harassed cops. The FOP also posted an appearance Roley made on a podcast where she "wasted no time berating a retired Cincinnati police officer and the others on the show," the FOP wrote on the petition website.
The FOP also posted all of these videos on the organization's Facebook page, and in one post claims Roley "is not a collaborator," instead calling her "an agitator."
In one of the body camera videos, Roley asks a man, who is being asked by a CPD officer to pour out his beer, if he'd like to file a complaint against the officer.
On Friday, Roley responded to the petition and claims of harassment with a statement from her attorney shared on Facebook.
"Videos circulated by FOP members and the recent call to sign a petition have targeted Ms. Roley for encouraging a community member to follow formal complaint procedures and questioning an officer's response, which have long been part of her community-centered approach to better policing in the City, and are within her rights to free speech and advocacy outside of her formal services for the City," the statement reads.
The statement also says that Roley's decades-long role in Cincinnati has "always involved evaluating police conduct and supporting community voices about policing in Cincinnati."
Roley's statement also says the FOP's allegations have led to hate messages and threats to Roley, her family and her business.
Roley has been a consultant with the city manager's office since 2022, helping the city to implement its Collaborative Agreement, which is upheld nationwide as an exemplary model for combating discriminatory, excessive law enforcement. Roley was one of the central organizers of the Collaborative Agreement. She is also a prominent, longtime organizer with the Cincinnati Black United Front, a social justice collective whose activism helped serve as a catalyst for the agreement.
In a statement to WCPO, City Manager Sheryl Long said Roley "is an essential community and civic leader in Cincinnati."
"Her contributions span from the origins of the Collaborative Agreement to her commitment to problem solving, resulting in support for teens at our transit center," Long said. "She consistently steps up to organize effective strategies and raises her hand to support (the) community when others don't."
To end her statement, Long said that "anyone doing work on behalf of the City of Cincinnati must hold themselves to a higher standard. That includes not interfering with police who are in the act of performing their lawful duties."
In addition, Roley's attorney sent WCPO the following statement regarding the situation:
Iris Roley’s longstanding role in the community has always involved evaluating police conduct and supporting community voices about policing in Cincinnati. Videos circulated by FOP members and the recent call to sign a petition have targeted Ms. Roley for encouraging a community member to follow formal complaint procedures and questioning an officer’s response, which have long been part of her community-centered approach to better policing in the City, and are within her rights to free speech and advocacy outside of her formal services for the City.
Iris Roley has been committed to supporting the success of the Collaborative Agreement and its Refresh for nearly 25 years, including receiving and responding to community concerns and supporting the work of the CPD toward better policing practices and improved community relationships for decades. She remains committed to those principles. However, these recent attempts to call her commitment into question have resulted in hate messages and threats of violence to Ms. Roley, her family, and business. In spite of these messages and unwarranted attempts to question her commitment to the community and the City, Ms. Roley has been, and will always be, a supporter of community-centered, evidence-based safety practices and policing in Cincinnati.
