CPD Captain Cleared of Discrimination After Leaked Audio Recording

Captain Danita Pettis stands in front of the District 2 headquarters in Hyde Park on May 12, 2022. Photo: Emory Davis

A Cincinnati Police Department captain who was being investigated for alleged discrimination by the department and city has been cleared of any wrongdoing, the city announced July 18.

Captain Danita Pettis of CPD District 2 was temporarily reassigned on June 28 while the city’s HR department and CPD’s internal investigators looked into claims that she used disparaging remarks about a fellow officer in an audio clip sent to city officials.

Pettis is the president of the Sentinels Police Association, an organization for minority officers in CPD, most of whom are Black. The city’s report on the incident reveals some of the fraught dynamics within the organization’s leadership over its interactions with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), which is CPD’s union. The report also shows a complicated set of motives in both the making and the dissemination of the recording.

In the audio clip, which only captures one side of the conversation, Pettis could be heard cursing about an officer, Toni Nash of CPD District 5, who she alleges traded sex with a male superior officer in exchange for favorable treatment at work.

“You been fucking white men since you came on the department. That’s how you fucked to get off FTO status, over there fucking Paul Neudigate in District 3 with your motherfucking monkey ass was still on FTO status,” Pettis is heard saying in the recording.

In an interview with investigators, Nash said Pettis calling her a “monkey” was “very derogatory towards Black people” and that it was “just as bad as saying the n-word, historically.” Both Nash and Pettis are Black.

Listen to the recording released by the city below:

City Manager Sheryl Long said in a statement released to CityBeat that the recording did not qualify as evidence of workplace discrimination.

“According to our current policies, there is not evidence that this off-duty conduct has a strong enough connection to the workplace to constitute a violation. But let me be perfectly clear: I am dismayed by this series of events and do not condone the use of derogatory, abhorrent language such as this.”

A report gives context to a one-sided recording

While the initial release of the audio clip from the city contained little context or background, the final investigation report tells a more detailed story.

According to the report, the clips of Pettis’ voice came from an off-duty conversation between Pettis and Sgt. Nedra Ward on or around Aug. 22, 2022.

The report said Ward recorded the conversation and shared the recording with Sgt. Sabreen Robinson on an unknown date. Then, sometime between August and November of 2022, Robinson edited the audio to remove Ward’s voice so that Ward could not be identified and sent the recording to Nash. On June 5, 2023, Nash sent the audio recording to investigators and said Pettis was talking about her in it.

Robinson, Ward and Nash all identified the voice in the recording as Pettis, but the police captain told investigators that, while the voice sounded like hers, she did not recall the conversation.

All of the officers interviewed for the investigation were in agreement that the claims being made in the recording were about Nash, according to the report. During the investigation, Nash said it was clear the conversation was about her.

“Officer Nash stated that the recording was about her. She explained that when she was a new police officer, sergeants were harassing her and started a rumor that she was having sex with Sergeant Neudigate, which was referenced in the recording,” the report reads. “She stated that at one point, she was in an interracial marriage, and that rumors were spread about that, including one that her husband called her the n-word, which was also referenced in the recording.”

Motives for pushing the issue

The report details why each officer involved chose to share the recording:

Ward told investigators she recorded the conversation with Pettis and sent it to Robinson because all four officers involved are on the executive board of the Sentinels and that this was something that “needed to be worked out and stopped.” In addition to Pettis, the president, Robinson is the organization’s vice president, Ward is the second vice president and Nash is on the executive board, according to the report.

Ward also told investigators she made the recording to protect herself, because “Pettis often records conversations.”

Robinson told investigators she shared the recording with Nash because of off-duty issues between her and Pettis, and in case Pettis started “messing with [Nash] at work.”

Nash told investigators she had recently applied for an investigator position in District 2, which is led by Pettis. According to the report, Nash said that “several individuals that encouraged her to apply for the role had called and asked her if she had issues with Pettis or had ever apologized to her.” The report said it was these calls and Pettis “continuing to perpetuate rumors from 20 years ago” that led Nash to turn in the recording to CPD.

The report said Pettis was not involved in selecting the candidates for the investigator role.

The investigation also found that disputes about how and who the Sentinels would endorse for Police Chief led to the recording.

The Cincinnati Sentinels Association headquarters on Central Avenue. Photo by: Emory Davis

According to the report, Nash told investigators that during this time period, Pettis wanted to persuade the Sentinels members to endorse Col. Lisa Davis for police chief. Davis was in the running for chief, along with now-Chief Teresa Theetge, who was ultimately appointed in December. Nash told investigators there was division in the Sentinels and an apparent alliance between Pettis, Davis and FOP President Dan Hils. She said it was common knowledge that, should Davis become chief, Pettis would likely be named assistant chief.

Robinson told investigators that there was some disagreement within the Sentinels about Pettis sitting on an FOP committee due to past history. (In CityBeat’s previous cover story about Pettis and the FOP, Pettis said she sits on the grievance committee, which reviews appeal requests from officers who believe they have been wrongfully punished or fired.) Ward told investigators that Nash said something about Pettis “sleeping with the enemy” in a Sentinels GroupMe chat, in reference to Pettis supporting Hils, which spurred the rant heard in the recording.

The results

The city’s report said, “The recording contains oral communications and derogatory comments that are prohibited under [Administrative Regulation 25 and Administrative Regulation 55],” which are policies that deal with bullying and discriminatory harassment. However, the city ultimately decided that Pettis did not violate the rules because the recording was made without her knowledge or consent while she was not on the job.

“While the City in no way condones the language used in the recording, it was established that the conversation took place while Captain Pettis was off duty,” the report reads. “Moreover, it was established that the conversation in the recording took place almost a year earlier. Further, Captain Pettis had no reason to think she was being recorded, as the recording was a personal conversation.”

The report goes on to explain the city’s rationale for the decision, saying all officers involved continued to “appear at work and perform the duties of their respective roles” between the time the recording was made and when it was released. It also noted that Pettis did not impede Nash’s efforts to get the District 2 investigator role.

“The preponderance of the evidence does not support that Captain Pettis was involved in the interviews or recommendations for this role,” the report reads.

While the department is not punishing Pettis for the comments made in the recording, she has been asked to undergo a “refresher” training session on Administrative Regulation 25 and Administrative Regulation 55.

The report also said CPD and city HR should meet with Nash to “ensure that she feels safe and comfortable in the workplace.”

“Friends of Captain Pettis” speak out

In a statement released to CityBeat from Laure Quinlivan, who said she was speaking “on behalf of friends of Captain Pettis,” Quinlivan said CPD denied Pettis permission to speak with the media about the report’s findings. She said venting about workplace frustrations should not be a crime.

“Venting with a friend while off duty is not a crime or a violation of city regulations of professional workplace conduct,” Quinlivan said. “Haven’t most of us had off-duty personal conversations with trusted family or friends, with or without profanity, that we wouldn’t want the world to hear?”

Quinlivan said Pettis’ friends are pleased with the outcome of the investigation, but emphasized that the timing of the audio’s release was meant to sabotage her chances of promotion.

“She is one of the finalists for an open assistant chief position, and plans to continue in the selection process. This unfounded complaint was apparently timed and targeted to derail her chances for promotion,” Quinlivan said.

Hils, who came to Pettis’ defense after the audio was released to the media in June, agrees the timing is suspicious.

“Its timing is suspicious at the least, if not far worse than that. Pettis had just gone through an interview for what would be one of the most important career steps of her life. She is trying to become an assistant chief,” Hils told CityBeat in June.

Long did not comment on Pettis’ eligibility for the promotion, but said she holds city staff in leadership positions to the highest standards.

“What city employees do both on and off the clock matters,” Long said. “I will continue to hold our leadership to the highest standards and create a workplace culture that is safe and welcoming to all.”

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This article appears in Jul 12-25, 2023.

CPD Captain Cleared of Discrimination After Leaked Audio Recording