A federal lawsuit claims a new Cincinnati Citizen Complaint Authority policy is unconstitutional. FOP President Dan Hils filed the lawsuit Thursday night along with three Cincinnati Police officers.
They say the independent police oversight board's new policy, to not allow officers to record interviews with CCA investigators, violates their First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit names CCA Director Gabe Davis, Investigator Ike Ekeke, and the City of Cincinnati. The complaint stems from several interviews between Ekeke and the officers.
"[E]ven though the typical policy should be to record the entirety of an officers' interview with the CCA, Ekeke utilized a selective recording technique, whereby he turned off the CCA recording device at various times, creating a deceptive and inaccurate record of the matter, including, without limitation, omitting material exculpatory statements made by the officer," the complaint says.
The complaint says Hils attempted to record the conversation on his own, but the interview was shut down instead. The CCA subsequently established a new policy stating officers and their representatives cannot record audio of interviews.
The complaint says the issue is about transparency.
"This case involves a desire…to record, for posterity, possibly defensively, and possibly for release to conventional and non-conventional media, the full and complete record of police interviews with the Cincinnati Citizen Complaint Authority," the complaint reads.
The lawsuit asks for an immediate injunction allowing officers to record interviews with CCA investigators. It also requests financial damages for the officers.
The defendants did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ekeke began as an investigator in November. He previously worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Cuyahoga County and at Case Western Reserve University's Law Clinic and Intellectual Property Clinic.
The officers involved in the lawsuit are Charles Knapp, Ken Byrne, and Adarryl Birch. Note: court documents misspell Birch's last name as Burch. A lawyer for the Plaintiffs confirms Adarryl Birch is the correct officer.
The CCA recently concluded a separate investigation into a 2018 shooting involving Birch and Byrne. A suspect, Khayree Waller, fired a weapon from a vehicle; Birch and Byrne returned fired, then initiatied a vehicle pursuit that ended in Waller's arrest. The CCA exonerated Birch and Byrne of any policy violations related to the incident.
According to a special CCA report published in April, Birch has had six contacts with the CCA in the past three years, and Byrne had four contacts; all allegations were deemed unfounded, not sustained, or exonerated.
Dan Hils has been a frequent and vocal critic of the Citizen Complaint Authority, which has widespread support from city government. Council recently voted to increase funding to the CCA as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 budget, with the promise of another small increase using closeout funds this fall.
Hils' lawsuit says the CCA has had an adverse effect on policing and safety: "Its non-professional, untrained, layperson second guessing has resulted in reactive-only policing."
Read the full complaint below.
Dan Hils Lawsuit_Initial Complaint_7-15 by WVXU News on Scribd
