Officers within the Cincinnati Police Department are demanding the department withdraw its plans to close down the District 5 headquarters in College Hill, citing a recent attack on a CPD officer.
“After the vicious attack on Cincinnati Police Officer McGuffey, it’s crystal clear that we need more officers on the streets not fewer,” Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) president Dan Hils said in a July 25 press release. The FOP is the union representing Cincinnati police officers.
On July 23, officer Terry McGuffey was hospitalized after the department said he was attacked by a person suspected of exposing himself in Sawyer Point Park. Hils told local media the officer was beaten by the suspect with his own baton, tased with own taser, and that the suspect attempted to “gouge the officer’s eyes out.”
Hils said nearly 100 CPD officers voted unanimously during a recent meeting to demand the city change its plans to redraw the police district map. He said officers will take longer to respond to calls under the new maps.
“Under the city’s plan, patrol officers could be more than 20 minutes one-way from their assigned beat,” Hils said. “It’s ridiculous to have patrol officers spending 40-minutes round trip every time they have to go to their district.”
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CPD Chief Teresa Theetge announced the planned closure of District 5 in May. She emphasized during a press conference that the restructuring plan is not expected to impact police services or wait times for officer response. She said patrol officers mostly work from their patrol cars and only need to be in the physical headquarters for roll call and station runs for bathroom breaks or evidence drop-off.
“There will not be a disruption in the police services to any of the 52 neighborhoods. Our response time will continually be monitored,” she said during the press conference.
Why District 5?
According to Theetge, the District 5 building, located in a former Talbert House building on Hamilton Avenue, was never meant to be a permanent home base for the 90 officers and employees who work there. The headquarters moved from a building on Ludlow Avenue that Theetge said was also designed to be a temporary headquarters starting in 1957.
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“I owe it to them to give them some stability in their workday and give them a permanent assignment and permanent district to work from,” Theetge said during the press conference.
City Manager Sheryl Long said the changes come at the intersection of long-term planning based on crime data analysis, and the immediate need to improve conditions for District 5 officers before the $110,000-per-year lease for the College Hill building expires in December.
The new map
By the end of the year, College Hill, Mt. Airy, Northside, and Camp Washington will be reassigned to District 3. Winton Hills, Spring Grove Village, and Clifton will be reassigned to District 4. CUF will move to District 1.
Other adjustments will include moving Mt. Auburn from District 4 to District 1, Walnut Hills will be reassigned from District 4 to District 2, and Mt. Adams will be reassigned from District 1 to the Central Business Section.
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This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 8, 2023.