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Cincinnati Police May Start New Recruit Class Sooner Than Planned

Michael E. Keating
/
WVXU

Cincinnati Council could hold a special meeting next month to vote on a plan to move up the start date for the city's next police recruit class.  It was scheduled to begin in February, 2016.  But some council members say it needs to start in September, 2015.  They say the city needs to get more officers on the street. City Manager Harry Black says it's about more than officers. "The people part is critical, but if we're going to do this, my recommendation is that we look at the whole picture and deal with all of this at one time."

Black says he needs to find out if the police department can be ready to start a class in September.  He also says it will come with financial impacts, meaning other budget items will likely have to be cut to pay for an expedited police recruit class.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati Council's Law and Public Safety Committee is asking the city and the region to remember Police Officer Sonny Kim who was killed during a violent incident Friday in Madisonville.  His visitation will be Thursday and the funeral is Friday.  The meeting began with a moment of silence to remember Officer Kim.

Committee Chairman Christopher Smitherman says there are no routine police matters. "Officers are in crisis situations every single day and they don't even know it when they're walking in," says Smitherman. "There is no 'I'm just stopping this car and it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I can see in or not see in. Or the windows are tinted or not tinted.' There is nothing routine."

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.