Recently, following the overpass collapse on I-75, a comment was posted on a social media site by a Cincinnati Police supervisor who witnessed the collapse. The comment was written to praise the response of the first responders, both police and fire, as well as other agencies such as the Coroner’s office. He was praising the quick action and reaction to the catastrophe and how ell the scene was quickly secured and traffic was rerouted. As of result of the quick professional response of the first responders, there was no additional injury or loss of life. The very first comment to this article was from Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell. Although he was not one of the 55 people who clicked on the “Like” icon, his response to the article was “I think your Chief showed up too?”.It is unclear why he chose to refer to himself in the third person, perhaps he was hoping people would not notice his lame attempt to beat his own drum.
I have reported previously on Jeffrey Blackwell’s egotistical, self-centered, self-absorbed manner. There is no question in my mind that the man is completely and hopelessly in love with himself. Perhaps he was not hugged enough as a child, but it is not his place, as the leader of a major metropolitan police department to use his position to promote himself, post ‘selfies’ to social media, and conduct “hey, look at me” interviews with local news outlets This attention to self management style is doing nothing for the Cincinnati Police Department or the public it serves. Jeffrey Blackwell often points out that the Cincinnati Police Department is held up as a model agency for other police departments to follow. What he doesn’t say is that he had absolutely nothing to do with this. The Cincinnati Police Department had achieve the status of being a model police department years before he became police chief. And, the Cincinnati Police Department remains a model agency in spite of Jeffrey Blackwell. The Mayor, John Cranley, has stated that Jeffrey Blackwell is secure in his position as long as the numbers are good. What he does not seem to realize is that crime is down across the Nation, not just in Cincinnati. Therefore, Jeffrey Blackwell had nothing to do with the local drop in crime. It is just part of a natural cycle that is occurring everywhere.
The Citizen’s of Cincinnati deserve to have the best person for a Police Chief and that person is not Jeffrey Blackwell. Jeffrey Blackwell was not selected as police Chief because he was the best Candidate, because he was not. Of all the finalist, he was the only candidate that did not possess a Master’s degree, although the job announcement indicated it was “preferred”. Jeffrey Blackwell was the only candidate who had issues with his background, including admitted drug abuse. There is no question in most people’s minds that the only reason he was chosen was because of his race. If nothing else, this has been the elephant in the room for some time. So now I have said it, it is out there, and most know it to be true. Jeffrey was selected for the position by then City Manager Milton Dohoney who almost exclusively filled top management positions with minority candidates. Jeffrey Blackwell’s performance since he has been hired has been unremarkable and has not caused me to think otherwise. Making up catch phrases (and then telling all that he coined the phrase whenever possible) does not make him a good chief. Posting selfies on social media whenever possible does not make him a good chief. Causing low morale in the department, up to and including the command staff, because of his dictatorial management style does not make him a good Chief.
The fact that he was working for almost a year and did not know of his employment conditions, including whether he was under contract or not, the fact that he must order people to show him respect, and the fact that the rift between himself and his top commanders is so wide that mediation was required to keep it functional says it all. He is not in command because he is unable to command. Some people are born leaders, Jeffrey Blackwell is not one of those people. It is time for Jeffrey Blackwell to step down. If he is not willing to voluntarily tender his resignation than the Mayor and City Manager need to step in and replace him. He is not good for the city and he is not good for the Police Department. What do you say, Jeffrey. Will you do the right thing?
Those are my thoughts, what are yours?
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