NEWS

Questions linger over killing by UC officer

Jason Williams, and Rebecca Butts
Cincinnati
Chief Jason Goodrich talks to Samuel Dubose's family outside the UC Police Department's offices.

More than two days after a University of Cincinnati police officer shot and killed a man, video footage of the incident still has not been released and many questions remain.

Cincinnati police, which is leading the investigation at UC’s request, often release available video of police-involved shootings within 24 hours of an incident. But video footage from a body camera and nearby building are being withheld from the public while Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters says his office “rapidly investigates” what led Officer Ray Tensing to shoot 43-year-old Samuel Dubose during a traffic stop Sunday evening in Mount Auburn.

Deters expects his office will be done with its probe before the end of next week.

Dubose’s family and UC students held a peaceful rally on the main campus at lunchtime Tuesday, demanding answers on the shooting from university Police Chief Jason Goodrich.

“Why can’t I see the video?” Dubose’s 9-year-old son asked.

Later in the afternoon, Tensing provided his first statement to investigators about the incident, UC police union President Jim Vestring told The Enquirer. No details were revealed about what Tensing told investigators, but new information about the officer publicly surfaced when the university released his personnel file.

Tensing, who remains on paid administrative leave, has been on the UC police force since April 2014 after spending a year as a Greenhills officer. He received an overall satisfactory rating during his annual performance evaluation in April.

Tensing was particularly praised for his handling of traffic stops, according to documents, and his salary was increased to $51,604.80 on April 26.

“Tensing is extremely proactive when it comes to traffic enforcement, but only meets the standards when it comes to community service,” Tensing’s evaluating officer wrote in the performance review. “I would like to see him interact more with the public outside of traffic enforcement.”

Sunday’s shooting comes during a trying time for law enforcement officers across the U.S. In the past year, an officer-involved fatal shooting in suburban St. Louis and the deaths of men in New York and Baltimore while in police custody have raised several questions about police tactics. The incidents also have sparked debate about who should investigate police-involved shootings. Investigations often are conducted internally or by a neighboring police department.

Some criminal justice experts have suggested officer-involved shooting investigations should be conducted by a state’s attorney general to try to avoid conflicts of interest. The jurisdictions of the Cincinnati and UC police departments overlap in some cases, and the departments have an agreement that allows university police officers to pursue certain traffic offenses beyond the boundaries of the campus and into city streets.

Bowling Green State University criminal justice professor Philip Stinson suggested this would be an ideal case for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine to investigate.

City and UC police officers “have to work together all the time,” said Stinson, whose research focuses partly on police officer behavior and misconduct. “So if there’s any sort of question about impropriety or conflict of interest, it gets people fired up in the community and then you lose focus on the issue. This is just a best-practice for avoiding a potential conflict of interest.”

DeWine spokeswoman Jill Del Greco said Ohio law prohibits the attorney general from conducting an investigation into an incident such as this unless UC or Cincinnati police request the state’s involvement. City officials say they are conducting the investigation at UC’s request, and no one has objected to that.

University police union leader Vestring said he is fine with the city investigating the incident, because Cincinnati police have the resources and are more experienced at conducting such probes.

“The process of finding out exactly what happened will be thorough, complete and transparent,” City Manager Harry Black said.

Dubose’s family members and UC students remained upset about the incident and frustrated by what some say is a lack of transparency from UC officials.

Abijah Reid, Dubose’s fiancée, stood outside the UC police department’s offices with her children and members of UC Students Against Injustice.

“We did not get any answers at all,” Reid said. “There are more questions than anything.”

Tensing shot Dubose after stopping him for a missing front license plate. The officer asked Dubose for a driver’s license, but Dubose couldn’t produce one, according to Chief Goodrich. Instead, Dubose gave Tensing a bottle of alcohol. The two men struggled at the door of the car, and Tensing fired once, fatally striking Dubose, Goodrich said. Tensing sustained bruised legs and his uniform was torn during the struggle.

“People are losing their lives over not having a license plate,” said Cierra Carter, 20, a UC student. “Those are not offenses worth dying for.”

Said UC senior Alexander Shelton: “We come here to demand transparency for Samuel Dubose. Today, we say, Enough is enough.’ ”

Just before 11 a.m. Tuesday, UC President Santa Ono broke his silence about the incident when he posted a statement on Twitter:

“On behalf of the University of Cincinnati community, I want to extend our condolences to the family and loved ones of Samuel Dubose,” Ono said. “Our hearts grieve for his loss. We also know that police officers risk their lives every day, and when their efforts to protect themselves and our community result in a death, it is a tragedy. No matter the circumstances, it is a time of unimaginable sadness for all involved.”