Mayor: Police captain 'made a mistake' with comments

Cincinnati Police Capt. Maris Herold admits she told a Walnut Hills group she wanted to "push the crime into Kentucky" but said The Enquirer took it out of context, creating a firestorm of protest.

"She made a mistake," Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said. "Nobody's perfect. It was clearly the wrong thing to say."

Herold spoke Thursday night to the Walnut Hills Area Council following several shootings and killings in the city.

"Hopefully, we can push the crime into Kentucky. I don't care if you quote me at this point," a frustrated Herold told the group with an Enquirer reporter in the audience.

Interim Enquirer Editor Michael M. McCarter responded Friday, "We stand by our reporting on Cincinnati Police Capt. Maris Herold. Her comments (Thursday) night and our reporting are generating important community conversation about public safety in Cincinnati and our region."

After Cincinnati.com posted the story, Cincinnati police said Herold's words were taken out of context. At a Friday police news conference, Herold said her intent wasn't to push crime to Kentucky but admitted that's what she said. She was talking specifically, she said, about drug buys made by people in cars with Kentucky license plates from Cincinnati drug dealers. But when directly confronted about her comment, Herold didn't clarify.

A television reporter at Friday's news conference asked Herold, "Often times, when you-know-what hits the fan, the cry is, 'I was taken out of context.' Is that what's happened here? Do you deny saying that we need to push the crime to Kentucky?"

Herold didn't directly address the question, answering "I just said it was completely taken out of context."

"So you didn't say that?" the reporter asked.

"What I said is just what I said before and if that was misrepresented, this was my meaning."

Cranley believes Cincinnati police should concentrate on addressing crime in the city's streets rather than talking about pushing "crime into Kentucky."

"There are too many (Cincinnati) shootings and we need to reduce them," the mayor said Friday.

"We'd never do anything to hurt Kentucky. We're all in this together."

Most Northern Kentucky leaders gave diplomatic responses to Herold's comments.

Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders tweeted to Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell that he's willing to help Cincinnati fight crime.

"We get enough of their criminals as is, but if @ChiefBlackwell needs help from the Southbank, all he has to do is ask," Sanders tweeted.

"I'm a little surprised to be honest with you," Newport Police Chief Tom Collins said. "I think crime is better dealt with head on rather than diverting it. That's what we try to do, deal with it directly and not shove it into another community. I'm sure Chief Blackwell, that is not his sentiment," Collins said.

Collins shared the view of other Northern Kentucky leaders that an isolated comment said in the heat of the moment won't have a lasting effect on the relationship between Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.

Covington Police Chief Spike Jones and the Cincinnati Police chief held a joint forum in April on improving community relations with police. That's one of many ways the police departments work together, Jones said.

"I know the captains in the districts in Cincinnati are under a great deal of pressure," Jones said. "Some incidents in the last few weeks dialed that pressure up a bit."

Walnut Hills saw the fatal shooting Tuesday of Nathaniel Scott Jr., 15, of East Price Hill, who was shot in the chest and back at the intersection of Park Avenue and William Howard Taft Road.

In April, 17-year-old Kelsie Crow died in a shooting outside a Sweet 16 party.

Herold leads District 4, which also encompasses the Mount Auburn intersection where a Metro bus was struck during a daytime shooting at a Shell gas station on busy Reading Road. Another daytime shooting a week ago rattled neighbors in the CUF neighborhood, also in District 4. Shootings in the city are at a 10-year high, according to a report from Cincinnati City Council's Law and Public Safety Committee. As of May 24, 162 people were injured by gunfire in Cincinnati.

Kentucky state Sen. Wil Schroder was unhappy about Herold's comments.

"As a former prosecutor, I am aware that the main supply of heroin for Northern Kentucky addicts comes from Cincinnati. So, to be clear, Northern Kentucky does not want, nor does it need any additional crime being imported from across the Ohio River," Schroder, R-Wilder, said. He represents Kentucky's District 24 comprised of Bracken, Campbell and Pendleton counties.

"Cincinnati is not only Northern Kentucky's neighbor across a river, but it is our regional economic and cultural partner. We should be working together to eliminate violent crime in both communities, not to simply relocate where a crime takes place."

Herold is a graduate of Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood.

Staff writers Henry Molski and Scott Wartman contributed.