Cincinnati Police Department History – 1975 to 1999

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The Greater Cincinnati Police Museum

“Preserving the History of Law Enforcement in the Greater Cincinnati Area”

Cincinnati Police Department History – 1975 to 1999

1975	–	–	District 4 moved to 4150 Reading Road from 7017 Vine Street.	–
1975	–	–	District 7 abolished, merged with District 4, from 813 Beecher Street.	–
1975	–	–	Patrol Cars: Chevrolet Chevelles w/ 350 cu.in. engines purchased. First with power steering.	–
1976	6-Dec	–	124 officers laid off, including some hired as early as 1971, after a failed attempt to raise taxes.	–
1976	21-Sep	York, Col. Guy, Founder	Annual Shoots: Last Guy York Shoots; 8 Distinguished Masters (gold) Medals, including Sgt. Basham, PO Henze, PO Kramer, PO Meyer, Sgt. Ritter, and PO Zucker, and numerous silver medals for Masters, Expert, Sharpshooter, and Marksman (all silver) awarded.	–
1976	–	Leistler, Myron J.	Chief (28th), to	–
1976	–	–	Patrol Cars: Pontiac LeMans w/ 400 cu.in. engines purchased and equipped with first light bars and blue and white lights instead of red.	–
1976	–	–	Police Cadet program ended due to budget constraints.	–
1977	–	–	Com-Sec modified to Team Policing format with reduced sworn complement.	–
1977	–	–	Patrol Cars: Chevrolet Chevelles w/ 350 cu.in. engines purchased. First with air conditioning.	–
1978	–	–	Patrol Cars: color changed from light (City) blue to white with purchase of 1978 Pontiac Catalinas w/ 400 cu.in. engines and w/o air conditioning.	–
1979	1-Feb	–	Laid off officers returned to service.	–
1979	4-Dec	–	Tragedy occurred at the Coliseum just before “The Who” rock band concert. 11 people trampled to death when the doors opened. City of Cincinnati, Police Division, and individual police officers among those named in $26,000,000 law suit, but were dropped years later.	–
1979	May	–	Nearly entire division took off sick for one day to protest perceived lack of attention by City Council regarding 11 officers killed in the line of duty in 8 years.	–
1979	–	–	Communication Assistance Section formed.	–
1979	–	–	Panel established to study police safety equipment. Implemented recommendations included patrol vehicles with better spot lights, better flashlights, bullet resistant vests and clipboards, and .357 revolvers.	–
1979	–	–	Patrol Cars: Ford LTDs w/ 302 cu.in. engines purchased. This and the Crown Victoria has been the standard to date.	–
1980	–	–	Community Sector policing abolished in lieu of traditional three rotating shifts in each of five districts.	–
1980	–	–	Sidearms improved with the issuance of Smith and Wesson Model 65 .357 revolvers with 4″ barrels loaded with .38 Special +P+ cartridges.	–
1981	–	–	Crime stoppers Program established.	–
1981	–	–	Training: Self-Defense/Physical Fitness Instructor added to the Police Academy staff.	–
1984	–	Amman, Ltc. Edward P., Operations Bureau Commander	District 4 begins fixed shift and modified patrol plan as pilot.	–
1985	–	Whalen, Col. Lawrence E.	Chief (29th), to 1992	–
1985	–	–	Fixed Shifts established in all districts.	–
1985	–	–	Communications section began civilian by hiring 28 Assistant Operator Dispatchers and the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system became operational.	–
1987	10-Jan	–	Sidearms: Fraternal Order of Police President submits a request to Director of Safety David Rager to direct a study to ascertain the propriety of continuing the carrying of revolvers in lieu of modern semiautomatic firearms.	–
1987	24-Jul	–	Sidearms: Report written on semiautomatics and recommends the issuance thereof. Smith and Wesson Model 5906 9mm semiautomatics issued to all members by end of 1988.	–
1987	–	–	Mounted Patrol Unit was reestablished.	–
1989	–	–	Community Oriented Policing established with six officers assigned to three districts as pilot programs.	–
1989	–	–	Park Police Department merged with the Cincinnati Police Division.	–
1991	–	Knox, Ltc. H. Bruce, Committee Chairman	Fixed Shifts modified to four fixed and four rotating shifts in each district; called the Eight-Squad Plan.	–
1992	Nov	Snowden, Col. Michael C.	Chief (30th), to 11/21/1998, 6 years.	–
1992	–	–	Crime Reports: 49 Criminal Homicides, 480 Forcible Rapes, 2,290 Robberies, 2,964 Aggravated Assaults, 7,075 Burglaries, 17,690 Larceny Thefts, 2,115 Motor Vehicle Thefts, and 580 Arsons.	–
1992	–	–	Calls for Service: 711,753; Emergencies: 409,635	–
1992	–	–	Fingerprints: Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) became operational as a combined effort with all Hamilton County law enforcement agencies.	–
1993	–	–	Fixed Shifts modified to four fixed shifts and personnel with less than two years seniority rotating.	–
1993	–	–	Crime Reports: 42 Criminal Homicides, 449 Forcible Rapes, 2,327 Robberies, 2,806 Aggravated Assaults, 6,154 Burglaries, 17,085 Larceny Thefts, 2,063 Motor Vehicle Thefts, and 581 Arsons.	–
1993	–	–	Calls for Service: 716,379; Emergencies: 431,506	–
1993	–	–	Cincinnati named as North America’s Most Livable City.	–
1993	–	–	Bicycles: Mountain Bike patrol introduced as a pilot in District 4.	–
1994	1-Jan	–	District boundaries realigned in accordance with neighborhood boundaries and a Neighborhood Officer assigned to each of 52 neighborhoods citywide.	–
1994	18-Nov	Caskey, Capt. Phyllis A. and Kramer, Lt. Stephen R.	Academic Achievement: Division members finish first the Administrative Officers Course (AOC) at the Southern Police Institute (SPI), University of Louisville, in both the Spring and Fall sessions.	–
1994	–	–	Civilian Police Academy established.	–
1994	–	–	Crime Reports: 38 Criminal Homicides, 382 Forcible Rapes, 2,131 Robberies, 2,304 Aggravated Assaults, 6,021 Burglaries, 16,797 Larceny Thefts, 1,732 Motor Vehicle Thefts, and 526 Arsons.	–
1994	–	–	Calls for Service: 633,104; Emergencies: 445,080	–
1995	Nov	–	Computers: Local Area Network (LAN) installed at headquarters connecting the chief, assistant chiefs, their secretaries and key commanders.	–
1995	–	–	Crime Reports: 51 Criminal Homicides, 408 Forcible Rapes, 2,155 Robberies, 2,027 Aggravated Assaults, 5,366 Burglaries, 15,011 Larceny Thefts, 1,913 Motor Vehicle Thefts, and 319 Arsons.	–
1995	–	–	Calls for Service: 613,964; Emergencies: 432,657	–
1996	18-Oct	–	Web Site Committee formed to research and publish a web site; Kramer, Lt. Stephen R (Chair); Bolte, Lt. Michael; Katt, Spec. Daniel A.; Lind, CPA2 Thomas A.; Neumann, Spec. Michael; Ramsey, Lt. Frederick; Roddy, AT Larita; Smith, Sgt. Thomas D.; and Witt.	–
1996	28-Jul	–	Youth Services Section established and Community Relations Section disbanded.	–
1996	June	–	Management Analysis Unit established to provide administrative analysis, tactical analysis, and crime analysis.	–
1996	–	–	Crime Reports: 32 Criminal Homicides, 315 Forcible Rapes, 1,772 Robberies, 1,795 Aggravated Assaults, 5,675 Burglaries, 16,019 Larceny Thefts, 1,820 Motor Vehicle Thefts, and 671 Arsons	–
1996	–	–	Calls for Service: 627,856; Emergencies: 444,227	–
1996	–	–	Patrol Cars: Outfitted with Smart Vector V-var emergency lights, Pro-Gard security screens, front mounted shotgun racks, fiberglass prisoner seats, and roof mounted vehicle identification numbers.	–
1996	–	–	Computers: Communications’ Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) upgraded to TCP/IP and integrated with the Division’s Local Area Network (LAN)/Wide Area Network (WAN).	–
1996	–	–	Computers: Four local area networks (LANs) added at Districts Two through Five bringing the division to five LANs and 50 workstations.	–
1996	–	–	Exclusion Zone established in Over-the-Rhine to deal with drug and prostitution related crimes.	–
1996	–	–	District 5 remodeling completed.	–
1996	–	–	Civilian Volunteer Program established in Personnel Section.	–
1996	–	–	Accreditation Team transferred to Planning Section.	–
1996	–	–	Student Police Academy established to allow middle school students the chance to learn about local law enforcement and interact with police officers. 75 students received certificates of completion.	–
1996	–	–	Cadet/Intern Program reestablished with six student interns.	–
1996	–	–	Violent Crimes Task Force established under the Criminal Investigation Section to make an impact on violent crime in the Greater Cincinnati area, focusing on individuals involved in serious violent crime.	–
1996	–	–	Complement: 1,259; 981 Sworn & 278 Non sworn; 1 Colonel (chief), 4 Lieutenant Colonels (assistant chiefs), 16 Captains, 41 Lieutenants, 131 Sergeants, 137 Police Specialists, 651 Police Officers.	–
1996	–	–	Budget: $65,372,930 (City: $586,800,000)	–
1997	–	–	Complement – 1,297, 996 sworn, 301 non sworn, 1 Chief, 4 Assistant Chiefs, 16 Captains, 44 Lieutenants, 151 Sergeants, 137 Specialists, 643 Police Officers.	–
1997	20-Jan	–	Fixed Shifts re-established in all districts.	–
1997	1-Apr	Smith, Sgt. Thomas D., Webmaster	Web Site, http:\\www.CincinnatiPolice.org published. Received more than 35 local, state, national and international awards in first year.	–
1997	24-Jul	Kramer, Lt. Stephen R., Commander	Data Management Section established to combine Records, Information Systems, and Management/Crime Analysis under one data management umbrella.	–
1997	1-Jan	–	National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) adopted for reporting crime, replacing Universal Crime Reporting (UCR).	–
1997	1-Jan	–	Local Law Enforcement (LLE) Network established bringing together all crime reported and arrests in Hamilton County, to any of 46 law enforcement agencies, into one database.	–
1997	16-Dec	–	Personal Crimes Unit received the Governor’s Community Policing Award of Excellence for their Special Needs Initiative.	–
1997	July	McAlpin, LTC Walter F., Chairman	Accreditation conferred upon the Division by the Commission of Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). First major city in Ohio and 7th largest in United States.	–
1997	–	–	Population – county – 866,228, 414 Square Miles	–
1997	–	–	Population – City – 364,040, 78.6 Square Miles, 920 miles of paved roads.	–
1997	–	–	Crime Reports: 40 Criminal Homicides, 339 Forcible Rapes, 1,671 Robberies, 1,296 Aggravated Assaults, 5,263 Burglaries, 15,196 Larceny Thefts, 2,226 Motor Vehicle Thefts, and 550 Arsons.	–
1997	–	–	Calls for Service: 919,975; Emergencies: 482,670	–
1997	–	–	Budget: $68,786,450 (City: $606,100,000)	–
1997	–	–	Drug Testing: Random, mandatory drug testing began.	–
1997	–	–	Computers: The five local area networks (LANs) are integrated, creating the first wide area network (WAN).	–
1997	–	–	Community Oriented Policing: Awarded “Best Community Police Program” by National League of Cities.	–
1997	–	–	Citizen Complaint Resolution Process (CCRP) established as a pilot in District Three.	–
1997	–	–	Bean Bag shotgun adopted as another less-then-lethal weapon for dealing with the mentally impaired.	–
1997	–	–	Regional Community Policing Institute established as a partnership of the Division and the Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development.	–
1998	–	–	Complement – 1,302, 1004 sworn, 298 non sworn, 1 Chief, 4 Assistant Chiefs, 17 Captains, 42 Lieutenants, 151 Sergeants, 138 Specialists, 650 Police Officers.	–
1998	24-Jul	Twitty, Ltc. Ronald	Black promoted to assistant chief for first time.	–
1998	February	–	Citizen Complaint Resolution Process (CCRP) established division wide.	–
1998	–	–	Cincinnati Strategic Targeted Intervention (CINSITE) program initiated to use information technology in an attempt to predict criminal activity and/or trends.	–
1998	–	–	Population – county – 866,228, 414 Square Miles.	–
1998	–	–	Population – City – 364,040, 78.6 Square Miles, 920 miles of paved roads.	–
1998	–	–	Crime Reports: 25 Criminal Homicides, 403 Forcible Rapes, 1,350 Robberies, 1,240 Aggravated Assaults, 5,385 Burglaries, 14,954 Larceny Thefts, 2,176 Motor Vehicle Thefts, and 444 Arsons.	–
1998	–	–	Calls for Service: 667,345; Emergencies: 491,000	–
1998	–	–	Budget: $73,144,410 (City: $622,571,600)	–
1999	7-Mar	Streicher, COL Thomas H., Jr.	Chief (31st), last Chief to be selected apolitically by Civil Service.	–

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