Police Examine Cars' Threat
Cincinnati police officers might not be able to shoot at suspects in moving cars as a result of a proposed change in the police division's "shots fired" policy.
In the aftermath of the shooting death of Michael Carpenter, who officers said they shot at after he dragged Officer Michael Miller with his car, the Cincinnati Police Division is re-evaluating its policy on when to fire.
During a news conference Aug. 10, Police Chief Thomas Streicher said that the policy change and the Carpenter shooting were unrelated. The news conference was called to announce that an internal investigations report found that both officers involved in the shooting were justified in using force. Officer Brent McCurley, however, faces a pre-disciplinary hearing for shooting in dangerously close proximity to Miller, and the report noted several other procedural problems with officer actions before the shooting occurred.
Last week, it was reported that the police division's "shots fired" procedure was under review, and that a proposed revision would prohibit officers from firing their weapons in situations involving a vehicle "unless the occupants are using deadly physical force against the officer or another person present by means other than the vehicle."
So what is an officer supposed to do if someone tries to use a car to run the officer down?
Streicher said that there were no hard-and-fast rules as to when and where an officer should fire his weapon. Use-of-force situations have to be evaluated based on the circumstances, he said.
"We just don't want an officer to step in front of a car," he said.
Why does the policy focus on the officers' use of deadly force and not on how to keep the officers out of a possible run-over situation?
"The policy on the use of deadly force focuses on safety," Streicher said. "Training does address not taking unnecessary risks. The policy guiding deadly force addresses what it should."
Cincinnati Adopts Y2K Checklist
The city of Cincinnati has released "its own" checklist for citizens to use as a guide to millennium preparedness that stresses readiness and avoids panicking.
Although city officials told reporters that the city's Y2K preparedness efforts were among the nation's most extensive, the city's checklist is a rehash of those put out by the American Red Cross and federal government guidelines, Gina Ruffin-Moore, city communications director, acknowledged.
CityBeat's reporting on Y2K preparedness in July included an interview with Bill Knecht, superintendent of business planning and development for Cincinnati Water Works. He said he would not be stocking up on bottled water because -- aside from the fact that he didn't like it -- he was confident that city water would not be halted by Y2K glitches.
But the city's Y2K checklist is advising residents to have a few days worth of bottled water on hand.
Has anything changed since CityBeat interviewed Knecht just a month ago?
"The city is not encouraging people to stock up (on water)," Ruffin-Moore said. "We're urging people to prepare based on the Red Cross checklist, (which includes stocking up on bottled water). We feel the (city's) water will be fine."
The only thing that seems to worry the city at this point is the preparedness of other entities on which it depends, Ruffin-Moore said.
Are there any items on the city's checklist that are not pulled directly from the Red Cross's guidelines?
"No," Ruffin-Moore said. "We trust them. They are experts on emergencies."
Stadium Watchers: Where Are the Black Folks?
The National Black Chamber of Commerce is taking its concerns to the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners about the lack of diversity its members see in the construction of the Bengals' stadium.
Harry Alford, the chamber's president, said in a written statement that "black contractors and other businesses ... were shut out from the loop and told to stand back as white contractors and subcontractors have their way with the black portion of funds generated to build this facility."
The county vowed in a 1996 agreement to aggressively pursue the inclusion of minority and women businesses in the stadium project. The goal for the county was to include those businesses in 15 percent of all stadium contracts.
The chamber, according to its news release, is particularly concerned about the commissioners' refusal to release specific information about the percentage of minority businesses included in the construction of the stadium. The group believes that the commissioners' refusal indicates that the county does not have documentation to back up statements that minority businesses have been included.
"Where were and where are the black folks?," the National Black Chamber of Commerce asked?
The county only has 95 percent of the contracts needed to complete the project, said Kathy Graham, the county's communications administrator.
So far, she said, 11 percent of those are small businesses. She said the county was working to meet its goal by including small businesses in the last 5 percent of contracts needed for completion.
"As far as the breakdown, we have included black- and female-owned businesses and don't break those out into just black-owned," Graham said.
But the county has broken down the number of minorities in the construction work force, she said. That number is 18 percent, Graham said. The county, she said, is working to create some initiatives to ensure the goal of 15 percent is met. But she said she would not elaborate on those initiatives until they had been presented to the commissioners. The county also has invited a representative from the National Black Chamber of Commerce to discuss its concerns with commissioners, Graham said.
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