On Thursday, March 6, 2014, I was scared for my life due to the neglect of the Cincinnati Police Department and their extreme mishandling of an auto-theft.
First and foremost, I would like to thank the men and women of the Cincinnati Police Department who operate under the core values of the force and help make the city a better place to live. Unfortunately, on Thursday, March 6, 2014... I was not lucky enough to encounter one of them. Here are the core values the department strives to uphold (taken from their
website):
- Integrity: Our actions and relationship with the community are guided by an internal sense of honesty and morality.
- Professionalism: Our conduct and demeanor display the highest standard of personal and organizational excellence.
- Diversity: Our members recognize differences as a strength in our organization and community.
- Accountability: Our duty is to promote public trust by upholding our obligations to the department and community.
- Vigilance: Our responsibility is to be alert to issues and activities impacting our community.
It was a typical Thursday and I woke up around 9 AM. I went up to the main floor of our home and my roommate, Drew Lens, looked at me and said, "you'll never guess what just happened to me." At 9 AM, there weren't a whole lot of potential negatives that crossed my mind before he informed me his car had just been stolen. Drew was warming his car up directly in front of our house before leaving for work. He stepped inside and within 2 or 3 minutes someone took off with his vehicle. He called the police as anyone else would do, although he wasn't too optimistic about the response he would receive due to previous experiences during the 6 years he has lived in Cincinnati.
On multiple occasions, Drew has been a victim of crime in the city and has had to resort to the police in hope they would fulfill their duties. He explained to me that every single time they have come only to treat him as a criminal. Once his house was robbed and the first question the police asked upon arrival was, "what kind of drugs are you selling?" I find it hard to pick
integrity and
professionalism out of that sort of response.
Hoping that this situation would warrant a different response, we awaited the arrival of a police officer. Upon arrival, the officer did two things: issued Drew a ticket for a parking violation (apparently leaving your keys in the ignition is an offense) and then wrote a parking ticket for one of our neighbors. The officer seemed more interested in making the city a few dollars on parking tickets than he seemed inclined to pursue an auto-theft felony. Officer Beasley continued to be rude and matter-of-fact with Drew when he exclaimed, "If you see your vehicle, you better not get inside of it because we will treat you like you stole it," before he finally drove away. The officer kicked the victim while he was down. This all greatly irritated me, but as the day went on, things only got worse.
Throughout the day, Drew was never contacted by anyone from the department. Around 4 PM, he remembered his vehicle was equipped with Onstar services, so he called the police department and they connected with Onstar to locate his vehicle. Coincidentally, after a little time on the phone, the police said they had already located the vehicle although they never attempted to contact its owner. There were no keys inside and the vehicle was in the middle of an apartment complex in one of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods of Cincinnati.
The police suggested they were going to tow the vehicle, impound it, and charge Drew for all of the services. Rationally thinking, Drew told the officers we would be there soon so he could avoid more expenses piling up. On the way, we received a phone call from the dispatcher suggesting we hurry up because the police officer would "rather have it towed and impounded."
(So, let's get this straight. A law abiding citizen has his vehicle stolen, gets ticketed for it, and the officer treats him like a criminal. Then, once the vehicle is located, they want to tow it, impound it, and charge the owner again. It seems to me that the police, at least in this situation, are working more as a capitalistic corporation with the goal to make profit at any necessary cost, opposed to operating under the department's core values.)
Once we arrive, another officer treats this crime as if it holds no significance. He looked at me and said, "This is the 8th one in 3 days," chuckles, turns away, and says, "see ya, guys." The officers pulled away and this is where things got rough.
The officers left us alone for over an hour with the stolen vehicle as we waited for a tow truck. Not to mention, this is considered probably the most dangerous road in a very dangerous neighborhood and we were obviously not welcome. Outside of one family nicely speaking with us, many people walked by and drove by multiple times, giving us dirty looks which seemed to be efforts of intimidation. Within one hour, I witnessed more than 10 blatant drug deals and even noticed a few individuals carrying guns at their waistlines. Here are some notable facts about the neighborhood where the cops left us to retrieve a stolen vehicle (all taken from
Area Vibes):
- The estimated Winton Hills crime index is 32% higher than the Cincinnati average and and the Cincinnati crime index is 131% higher than the Ohio average.
- The estimated Winton Hills violent crime rate is 32% higher than the Cincinnati average and and the Cincinnati violent crime rate is 244% higher than the Ohio average.
- The estimated Winton Hills property crime rate is 32% higher than the Cincinnati average and and the Cincinnati property crime rate is 120% higher than the Ohio average.
- The crime rate in Winton Hills, Cincinnati is less than 2% of the cities in Ohio.
- The estimated chance of being a victim of a crime in Winton Hills is 1 in 10.
The picture that follows is taken from the department's website and depicts crime on that particular street within the last 8 months, including homicides, many assaults, even more aggravated assaults, along with an abundant amount of robberies and burglaries (note that the 'crosshairs' are approximate to where we were located):
The police made no attempt at an investigation concerning who stole Drew's vehicle. They actually seemed more bothered that they didn't get the chance to tow it to the impound. They were not concerned with the criminal as much as they were with dealing out parking violations or impound fees. The actions of the police made us feel more unsafe in Cincinnati than we ever had before because these officers did not seem particularly concerned with protecting the residents of their own town.
I don't enjoy complaining, but I believe that the way the officers acted that day is not coincidental. Knowing this neighborhood is as bad as it is, the police still left two people there with a vehicle that had been stolen by, more than likely, someone within close proximity. I was literally, for the first time in my 27 years, scared for my life. Do the police often treat victims like they are in the wrong? Is this type of neglect something that happens regularly? It is hard to believe that this is an isolated case and isn't widespread in the city.
Most importantly, the department's neglect of this neighborhood is atrocious. There are honest, hard working families that live in this community who have to face this crime every single day because of hardly any police presence. Their children play outside on these streets only to witness the criminal activity because it cannot be avoided with the aid of police. I cannot even begin to imagine how these people feel on a daily basis. Can you find
integrity,
accountability,
professionalism,
morality or
vigilance in any of this? I know I certainly cannot. We were served through disservice and left to protect ourselves.
Until next time...
Check me out on Twitter: @PrallyD
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