Morale problems at CPD under microscope

Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black asked for a top-down review of the police department Tuesday because of the perception it suffers from communication and morale problems.

In a meeting Monday with Chief Jeffrey Blackwell, Black said he asked the chief how he "might be able to approach addressing perceived morale and communication issues in the department."

The review, known as a "climate assessment," is the fifth such review of a city department in last two years.

An assessment of operations at the Metropolitan Sewer District, which is caught in a tug-of-war between the county and city, is ongoing.

"Based on a recommendation from the Human Resources Director, I have asked the Human Resources Department to engage the Cincinnati Police Department in a climate assessment process in order to assess internal communication and employee morale," Black wrote Tuesday in a memo to City Council and the mayor.

Black said he doesn't know what will come out of the assessment.

"I have received feedback from various places so I can't definitely say there are problems or there aren't," Black said.

If issues surface, Black pledged to fix them.

"I expect this to be a collaborative engagement process with the Cincinnati Police Department leadership and will only aid law enforcement efforts," he wrote.

Blackwell did not return a call for comment.

"What's important is that in any organization management from time to time will need to jump in and intervene to ascertain what is the overall mood," Black said. "This climate assessment model is a good way to allow us to go in and do an objective environmental scan and learn more about where an organization is and what we can do to help it."

Black may just be trying to be nice. Fraternal Order of Police Queen City Lodge No. 69 President Kathy Harrell said, "It's no secret morale is very bad in the police department."

She told council's Law and Public Safety Committee as much in an April 27 meeting and reiterated that point with top city officials – including the mayor, city manager and police chief – during a Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence meeting April 28.

"I discussed morale issues and communication issues, they cannot deny it," Harrell said Tuesday.

She said the problems include:

•Street strength is lower than it's been in years. Officers have been hired, but in 2010 the department's sworn complement was 1,135. It's currently 1,000. The planned recruit class for September has been moved to February.

•Blackwell is attempting to civilianize some positions, including criminalists who do crime scene collection. Now, when a criminalist goes to a crime scene, one officer can process a whole scene, which is beneficial in court.

•Officers have had only a 1.5 percent pay raise since 2010, and that was given last October, retroactive to May 2014.

"No hiring, no pay raises, no street strength equals low morale," Harrell said.

The climate assessment comes just days after it came to light the city drew up papers for the chief after he suggested during a conversation with Black on May 20 he might quit. Black says that is not what he intended, and the separation agreement was abandoned.

Blackwell told The Enquirer Friday he doesn't aspire to leave Cincinnati, but added he won't stay if he isn't wanted.

"No one wants to be where they're not wanted, and me included," he said. "And we had a conversation about whether I was a good fit for this job. I think I'm doing a good job. I love this city. I want to stay."

Climate assessments aren't always done when departments are in turmoil, but they are tools to figure out how to do things better, said Scott Greenwood, a civil rights lawyer who now does assessments of law enforcement agencies with former Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher.

He said the recent flap over the resignation papers, as well as escalating gun violence on the city's streets, suggest a closer look at Cincinnati's department is a good idea.

After climate assessments at the city's recreation department and public services department last year, both got new leaders.

Make It Plain Consulting, an Over-the-Rhine-based company, will do the study. The cost was not immediately known Tuesday night. The company's website said it was "was established in 1996 with the intent to guide people and organizations through difficult times. We are based on a fundamental (principle) that both individuals and organizations experience seasons of growth and development."

On Monday, Black ordered Blackwell to come up with a 90-day plan to reduce a recent increase in shootings. That plan is due to Black by Friday.

As of May 24, 162 people were injured by gunfire this year. That is more shooting victims within that time frame than any year in the past decade, according to a report given Tuesday to council's Law and Public Safety Committee.

Mayor John Cranley said Tuesday he is committed to working with the police department "to take control of the shootings."

But, he added, "there are issues of communication that must be dealt with. And they can be."