( CINCINNATI, OH ) -- The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) has voted and are now demanding that the city of Cincinnati move officers out of District 5 Police Headquarters immediately or face legal action. The FOP is also demanding that the city provide free cancer screenings to all officers from District 5.
The FOP, Cincinnati Police Chief Elliot Isaac, and many at City Hall have been fighting for a while to get officers moved from District 5 HQ after many current and former officers who have consistently worked in the building developed various forms of cancer. Even after inspections of the building showed there were no causes for concerns for the health of employees, the FOP and CPD have been insistent that the building is unsafe for the health of officers.
City Councilman Charlie Winburn called District 5 HQ a "death trap," and spoke out shortly after the FOP vote was made public. He says that he is urging Mayor John Cranley and City Manager Harry Black to move District 5 Officers within 72 hours (by Thursday, October 26). Winburn, as chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, is also asking council to budget the money to provide free cancer screenings for any employee of CPD who worked at District 5 in the past 5 years.
Councilman Winburn says that he is calling Sgt. Dan Hills to ask him to file a lawsuit against the city of Cincinnati by Friday if demands are not met, and Winburn says he would like to be a third party in the lawsuit against the city.
City Councilman PG Sittenfeld also supports moving officers out of District 5 HQ, saying "No matter what sort of various tests conclude, public safety needs to be first for our constituents and also needs to be first for our brave police officers." He says that while many support the idea of moving police officers out of District 5, he says a lot of issue is administrative and pressure needs to be "turned up" on certain administrative officials to make the move.