911 caught in crossfire of police promotion fight
City of Cincinnati officials hoped to promote seven police officers to fill jobs at the 911 center, part of a plan to put dispatchers back in the hands of officers instead of civilians.
But the police union protested in court last week that the promotions would violate their contract and won – a move that leaves the 911 center in limbo.
"This is an emergency situation that has to be taken care of," said Cincinnati Assistant Police Chief Dave Bailey. "It's the front lines of public safety."
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 69 President Sgt. Dan Hils declined to comment, but on his "Support the Blue with FOP #69" Facebook page he suggested making the decision about promotions without contacting the union was "a move by city administration to pit us against each other."
"Please remember that your safety is our first priority," he added.
City Solicitor Paula Boggs Muething said the city is "committed to making sure the ECC (emergency communication center) is run effectively and efficiency as possible and the promotions are the best way to do it."
"We're going to push ahead," she said. "We're willing to sit down and work this out in a reasonable way."
Councilman Christopher Smitherman, chairman of council's Law and Public Safety Committee, said a compromise is needed. "The chief should temporarily move staff around."
The dispute comes as the union and city get ready to begin negotiations on a new contract. It also comes at the same time as 13 promotions, jobs that came open after three officers were promoted to assistant chief.
Five years ago the city – in an effort to increase efficiency – put civilians in charge of the 911 center. Almost immediately there were personnel and performance issues. Council heard complaints from 911 employees and the public; not only that it took a while for somebody to answer, but also about the tone and attitude of dispatchers. City Manager Harry Black, hired in September of 2014, attempted to make fixes and finally late last year put the 911 center back in police hands.
On Dec. 3 he wrote in a memo to city council members, "Recently I have become increasingly concerned with challenges related to the staff retention and the resulting increases in overtime, training and customer service... It is my belief that the civilian model has not proven to be the most effective one for this critical public safety service."
Promotions are based on a "promotion-eligible" list, a list of officers in order of how they scored on a written test. As long as a list is "active," that list is used when positions become open. The highest person on the list gets the job.
Cincinnati Police Capt. Jeff Butler is running the division and the city wanted to add a captain, lieutenant and five sergeants.
The union doesn't disagree with the idea, but contends how the city went about the promotions violated their contract. The contract says no additional positions can be created while there is an active promotion list. The idea is to keep favoritism out of the process.
In 2007, the department tried to create positions during an active test list, but was sued and lost. When former Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell added positions in 2014 his memo acknowledged that the decision had to be made during a time when the lists weren't active, according to the union court filing.
In the case of the 911 center promotions, the union filed a grievance and sought an injunction from the court based on breach of contract. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh brokered an agreement in which the city agreed it would not promote off the existing list.
Union attorney Steve Lazarus said on the Facebook page, "The FOP cannot pick and choose when it will enforce the contract entered into between it and the city. To do so would certainly appear to be driven by personality as opposed to clear contractual language."
The city has two options: It can negotiate with the union for an exception to the contract to make the 911 center hires, or it can void out the active promotion lists and re-test. The latter is allowed by law, but would likely create problems with people next on the list since they'd have to re-test.
What the FOP contract says
“When no eligible list exists for a specific promoted rank in the Police Department, the City Manager may, after notifying City Council, establish a maximum number of authorized positions at that rank and may set a level higher or lower than the then-current number of positions at that rank.”
Other police promotions
Last week the city promoted 13 officers to vacancies created by promoting three people to assistant chief – including Patrick Caton, who was involved in an officer-involved death in 2000.
Officials promoted three officers to captain, including Kimberly Williams, the first black female in the department to be promoted to the rank of captain; three officers to the rank of sergeant, and three officers to the rank of lieutenant. The latter included the promotion of Caton, who was involved in the 2000 death of Roger Owensby Jr. Caton was acquitted of assault, but was fired for failure of good behavior and neglect of duty. He was rehired after an arbitrator decided the punishment was too harsh. The family of Roger Owensby received $6.5 million from taxpayers to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.
Unlike assistant chiefs, which are chosen at the discretion of the city manager, there is no choice when it comes to lieutenants. Lieutenants are promoted based on test scores, which is required by the union contract.