Good morning, all. Here’s the news today.
Cincinnati Police, including Chief Jeffrey Blackwell, yesterday held a press conference about the shooting death of 22-year-old QuanDavier Hicks by CPD officer Doris Scott. Hicks died on the scene of the shooting in Northside. Police officials say that Scott and fellow officer Justin Moore, who was on his third day with the Cincinnati Police Department, were on a second-floor landing of Hicks’ apartment building at Chase Avenue knocking on a door looking for him when Hicks opened up an adjacent door and immediately pointed a rifle at the officers. Moore then grabbed the rifle barrel and Scott shot Hicks in the chest.
The official police version of events says that a 911 call from an address on Colerain Avenue caused officers to be dispatched to Hicks’ address.
“Hicks is known to both the 911 caller and the caller’s boyfriend,” Blackwell said during the news conference. The caller said Hicks had a key to her house and had entered without her permission.
“He’s talking about coming to kill me and all this other stuff,” the woman said in the call, which police played for the press. A dispatcher asked if Hicks carried weapon, and the caller responded, “he probably do,” saying others have told her he had a weapon, though she admitted she had never seen him with one. Officers then went to Hicks’ address at 1751 Chase Avenue to try and find him, leading to the shooting.
Hicks has a few minor drug possession violations in Hamilton County, according to clerk of courts records. Police officials say he has a criminal charge in his former home of Atlanta, but did not provide details about that history, saying they were still waiting for more information.
Meanwhile, another side of Hicks’ life has come out from neighbors and family members, who describe him as a kind man who they have a hard time imagining brandishing a rifle, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Family members are demanding to know more details about the incident, as are community members and police accountability activists.
Dozens lingered at the scene of the shooting afterward, where rumors circulated that the police kicked down Hicks’ door. Two men were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after police say they tore down caution tape around the scene. We’ll update with their names when we have them. Some, including members of activist group Cincinnati Black Lives Matter, question that and other police assertions, however.
The group released a statement yesterday demanding a full, transparent investigation, the release of any audio or video evidence and the release of the two people arrested for disorderly conduct after the incident. The group is holding a rally at Hoffner Park in Northside at 6 p.m. today.
“Black Lives Matter Cincinnati (BLMC), offers condolences to the family and friends of 22 year old Quandavier Hicks,” the group said in the statement. “Conflicting information has circulated regarding whether Hicks was armed, yet we stand with Quandavier Hicks’ family in this challenging moment and call for an immediate release of all details of police conduct in this shooting. This incident has fueled righteous suspicion of the police and heightened existing tensions resulting in the arrest of two individuals at the crime scene. Aaron Roco, BLMC organizer witnessed the two arrests at the crime scene stated, ‘At no point did either of the arrestees cross the police lines, they were vocally criticizing the police killing of their neighbor and the cops just grabbed them out of the crowd.’ ”
About the officers: Moore previously served with the University of Cincinnati Medical Center Police, and before that, was a long-time officer in Clermont County. Scott is an eight-year veteran of the Cincinnati Police Department. Her record with the Citizen’s Complaint Authority shows four minor complaints about discourtesy and lack of service. She was exonerated on two of those. Both officers are on a seven-day leave from the department. Meanwhile, investigations continue into the shooting. Blackwell says at this early point that officers seem to be justified in the incident, but cautioned that the investigation is far from over.
Here is audio of Blackwell’s press conference, including the 911 recording (I don’t have my audio editing software here, so the chief’s remarks begin at 1:58, the 911 call at 2:40) and the police incident report CityBeat has obtained through an open records request.
• Are you a cyclist who could use some pointers on riding around the city’s coming streetcar? Queen City Bike and Cincinnati Red Bike are offering free workshops on cycling safety around the streetcar every second Saturday of the month. Those workshops will offer tips on how to ride safely alongside the streetcar, how to cross tracks without taking a spill and other things you need to know. The classes will run until October.
• I gave you a lot of local news yesterday, so I’m going to finish this thing off today with a bunch of state news you should know about. The first is about the Republican-led state Senate’s budget proposal, which could cut funding for county child protective services agencies by $17 million next year through the phasing out of tax reimbursements. The budget would give $600,000 less than even the House’s bare-bones budget to child protective agencies at a time when Ohio already ranks last in spending on such services and Hamilton County’s Job and Family Services faces large-scale changes after tragic deaths of children who needed protective services.
* Also in the Senate’s budget: a measure that could cost affordable housing efforts and aid to the homeless millions. The measure would take half of the money currently received by the state’s Housing Trust Fund, which is compiled from county recorder fees and used for affordable housing projects and homelessness prevention efforts, and distribute it back to Ohio’s 88 individual counties to spend how they see fit. Given that county governments generally tack conservative in Ohio, it’s not hard to see how that could lessen the pot of money available for affordable housing here and in many Ohio counties. Advocates are trying to convince lawmakers to strip that measure from the budget before the General Assembly passes it on to Gov. John Kasich for his signature. Also on the potential chopping block: state historic tax credits, which could seriously slow redevelopment efforts in neighborhoods like OTR.
• Have you been wondering what’s new with Kasich’s campaign for president? Let’s spend a few minutes finding out what’s up with John these days. The big news is that his super PAC has hired Fred Davis, creator of some of the most… um… creative political ads of the last few years. Davis’ ads, like the so-called “Demon Sheep” ad (just click the link and watch) are, by my subjective aesthetic and narrative standards, totally awful. A few samples of dialogue from these videos: “He’s not in it for the balloons.” Also: “I’m not a witch.” Can you picture Kasich saying either of those things? Hilarious. But they do stick out from the crowd of boring political TV spots, which I guess is kind of the point.
• Finally, I just wanna say I’m bummed that Ornette Coleman died. One of my all time favorite jazz musicians.
That’s it for me. Email, tweet, you know the drill.
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2015.
