Edward W. “Butch” Zieverink III

Cincinnati Police Specialist Badge PS-41
1st Greater Cincinnati Police Museum Historian
2nd Greater Cincinnati Police Museum Curator

Butch’s father and namesake, “Fast Eddie” Zieverink was a United States Navy veteran that participated in ten major World War II campaigns. When Butch was born, the elder Ed had just joined the Cincinnati Police Division. During 1966, the same year that his father was promoted to Police Specialist after the first examination give for that rank, Butch graduated from Elder High School, enrolled in the University of Cincinnati, and joined his father in the Division as a Police Cadet.

On February 23, 1968. Butch took a leave of absence to join the United States Army and fight in the Vietnam War. He qualified for and served as a Green Beret in the 7th Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg. Sergeant Zieverink was honorably discharged almost three years later on February 28, 1971. In the meantime, Butch’s sister, Mary (Zieverink) Hosinski, also joined the Police Division on June 8, 1969, as a Policewoman in the Juvenile Bureau.

Because of arcane rules and a strident administrator, the incredibly highly qualified Green Beret was not permitted to immediately return to the Police Division. Undaunted he took a job with Cincinnati Water Works. On October 24, 1971, he reentered the Police Division in the 56th Recruit Class. He was promoted to Patrolman on March 12, 1972, issued his father’s Badge Number 600, and assigned to District 1 (310 Lincoln Park Drive). He quickly earned a reputation for hard work, high production, and more than a modicum of humor. During 1974, he was one of the first Cincinnati officers trained in Hostage Negotiations and was assigned to a Sniper Team. When the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams were officially formed in 1975, Butch was among them. He was transferred to District 3 in 1980 where he almost immediately was assigned to the Mini-Tac as an undercover investigator. Later, he was assigned to the plainclothes Investigative Unit. Regardless of the team to which he was assigned, he coalesced the team with his humor and leadership.

On November 8, 1981, Butch became the third in the family to be promoted to Police Specialist and was issued Badge PS-41. His sister had been promoted to the rank in August 1972. His father retired in 1985 and his brother, James Zieverink, joined the Division in 1986. James was promoted to Police Specialist in 1991, making the Zieverink family unique in the number of members promoted to Specialist.

During 1988, Ed transferred to the Homicide Unit in the Criminal Investigation Section where he enjoyed a Division-wide reputation as a hard-nosed, tenacious investigator. In 1996, his supervisor rated him a perfect 25. Specialist Butch Zieverink retired January 11, 1997, with 45 letters of appreciation and/or commendation in his Personnel jacket. Almost all of them referenced investigations of offenses from Vandalism to Murder. Two were proffered by Safety Directors Gustavson and Rager, ten by Police Chiefs Leistler and Whalen and Assistant Chief Ammann, two by Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutors Rebusch and Brueggeman, and one from FBI Special Agent Terrence Divan.

By 1986, Ed had been working part time for the Hamilton County Coroner as a Night Clerk. Upon retirement, Ed took on a full-time position as Morgue Director/Building Supervisor. He managed many overdue upgrades to mechanical systems. According to Andrea Hatten, the Chief Administrator for multiple coroners, he had a tremendous work ethic and brought a lot to the work environment with his sense of humor and penchant for practical jokes!! She rated him as “one of the best people that I have worked with in my 23 years.” Butch retired again on April 4, 2008.

He then began volunteering at the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum as a Docent. Ed is a master woodworker and started helping the Curator with his display cases. With his facilities background, he helped the Facilities Director convert the Museum over to LED lighting.

During 2013, the Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Society Board of Directors created the position of Historian and named Butch as its first. His investigative experience and tenacity proved well-suited to the position as he ran down vague clues to determine provenance of artifacts and historical events. His first self-appointed task was to find burial locations of more than one hundred regional officers killed in the line of duty. He also found several line of duty deaths that were previously not documented by either the Museum or their agencies.

In August 2019, he took over as Museum Curator, only the second curator in the historical society’s 25-year existence. Since then, the Museum has grown to be, according to TripAdvisor, the 1st of 362 things to do in Cincinnati.

By 2024, Butch was in his 59th year of service to his country, county, and community. His wife, Mary Ann, also serves as Membership Committee Chairperson and occasional special events volunteer.