WHITEHALL, Ohio (WCMH) – It was standing room only Tuesday night at City Hall as Whitehall City Council voted 6-1 to not investigate its Division of Police.
Brian Steel, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police lodge, has been calling for an investigation since June, when he said a union representative was unfairly fired after asking Mayor Michael Bivens for help addressing what he called a toxic work environment under Chief Mike Crispen. Last week, a second union officer who also worked on the presentation was fired for allegedly falsifying a confession.
Yet councilmembers overwhelming voted against investigating. They said officers who had concerns could use union resources to lodge complaints and asserted a vote in favor of an investigation would be akin to a vote of no confidence in police leadership.
"If I'm happy about anything, I hope my staff walks away and realizes that the city wasn't going to vote no confidence in what they do over there," Crispen said. "They reaffirmed for my supervisors that they appreciate the work that they're doing."
Councilmember Gerald Dixon was behind the ordinance and was the sole vote in favor. He said despite claims that an investigation may not solve anything, he was focused on finding the truth. He said the FOP was willing to pay for half of the investigation, making funding less of a concern.
"Tonight's vote, while expected, is nevertheless disappointing," Dixon said. “I've heard concerns that recruitment is a problem because people hear what's going on in Whitehall and they're not sure they want to serve here."
Public comment stretched nearly an hour, with 20 residents and officers speaking. Six spoke in favor of an investigation, eight spoke against it, and four of the six remaining speakers did not advocate either way but used their time to speak highly of Whitehall leadership, particularly Bivens and Crispen.
The meeting was not without tension. Multiple speakers addressed Steel directly, resulting in several people being reprimanded by council. Bivens began the meeting by calling Dixon an "outlier" and alleging Steel vandalized a city employee's car by placing a sign on it in support of one of the fired officers.
NBC4 spoke with Steel and Crispen after the vote, and the two contradicted each other several times. Steel said there are no more union officers at Whitehall and alleged a union member has been placed on leave after voicing concerns to a councilmember. Crispen said there are plenty of union officers and said the man in question was on medical leave, not disciplinary leave.
Steel also alleged officers are afraid to come forward because of possible retaliation.
"The number one reason the officers -- our members -- wanted an investigation ... is subpoena powers," Steel said. "They don't want to voluntarily come forward."
"We've scoured our department, we've tried to see if there's any evidence to meet these concerns they've been talking about for years," Crispen said. "My sense is that they don't really exist."
Crispen said the vote will allow the department to return to its business without roadblocks.
Steel said he will keep advocating for an investigation.
