Sharon Coolidge, Mark Curnutte, and Bob Strickley

Cincinnati

The Cincinnati Police Department is reviewing a Facebook post by a black officer that referenced white officers "looking for a reason to kill a black man."

Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said in a Thursday statement the post is being reviewed under the department's "social media procedure and our rules and regulations."

The Facebook post, first reported by Fox19-WXIX TV, was made on an unknown date earlier this month, apparently after black men were killed by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota.

"Yep it has made world wide news now...A message to all my Afro America friends and family. When you are encountered by a white officer make sure that you are in a public place, and comply to all of their commands, because they are looking for a reason to kill a black man," read the post by Officer Freddie Vincent that has since been deleted. "And always keep your hands in the air, and never resist. I'm so tired of cops using these famous words 'I was in fear of my life.' I'm praying for Louisiana that could have been my nephew in B.R."

Isaac sent a statement to the media Thursday afternoon regarding his officer's post.

“The Cincinnati Police Department strives to maintain a culture of professionalism, as well as transparency and accountability for our actions. I am proud of the work of the men and women of the Cincinnati Police Department and our efforts to work collaboratively with the community," Isaac wrote. "We are aware of a recent post to a commonly used social media site by one of our officers that refers to an interpretation of a law enforcement officer’s actions. The comments that were posted are under review as they relate to our Social Media procedure and our Rules and Regulations.”

At an Enquirer-sponsored panel discussion on police-community relations last Thursday at New Prospect Baptist Church in Roselawn, an audience member, on a submitted question card, asked Isaac if racism exists with the Cincinnati Police Department.

“I don’t think anyone can say there is not racism inside the department,” he said.

Sgt. Dan Hils, president of the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police, said Thursday afternoon he had no comment on Vincent's post “because I represent him.”

Officer Eddie Hawkins, president of the Sentinel Police Association, the black police union, did not respond to a voice mail and text message left on his cell phone.

Bishop Bobby Hilton, senior pastor of Word of Deliverance Ministries, Forest Park, said that with police-community tensions running high across the country, this situation must be taken seriously.

“When there is a hint of this, that we have police officers who have this thought process about black men, these officers have to be dismissed,” said Hilton, president of the local chapter of the civil rights group the National Action Network. “We are now seeing situations in Minnesota and Florida, where black men are doing what they are told by police – putting their hands up, complying with all instructions – and they are still shot.”

In Baton Rouge on July 5, Alton Sterling was killed by police outside the convenience store where he sold CDs on the street.

In suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, black motorist Philando Castile was shot and killed July 6 by a police officer after telling the officer that he had a legal conceal carry license and had a weapon in his car.

On Wednesday, police in Miami, Florida, shot an unarmed black man, Charles Kinsey, a caretaker who was trying to calm his patient with autism and told police that his hands were in the air. He suffered a leg wound.

Over the last two weeks, Vincent's Facebook page had a stream of posts relating to injustices in policing.

On July 7, at 6:15 a.m., he posted a photo of Ku Klux Klan members and a burning cross with the headline, “The KKK has infiltrated U.S. police departments for decades.” The link went to www.alternet.org.

Above the photo, Vincent wrote, “Knowledge !!!!!”

On July 12, he posted another illustration on “10 rules of survival if stopped by the police.”

Above it, Vincent wrote, “I can’t promise you that this is 100% true, but it’s about 85% to 95% and you just might make it home safely.”

Later that day, at 2:26 p.m., Vincent posted on the topic again.

“Violence on Violence equals destruction, so fight the system with knowledge,” Vincent wrote. “This is what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was promoting until they silenced him. So now let us promote hundreds (of) thousands of Dr. Martin L. King Jr.’s and see how the system reacts to that.”

Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black issued a statement on the Facebook post Thursday evening.

“I was very disappointed,” Black said. “When we’re in certain positions of responsibility, particularly public safety, we have to adhere to a higher standard of personal conduct. I know the comments depicted on Facebook are not indicative of the men and women who make up police department, nor city government.”

Black said he is confident CPD leaders will issue "whatever disciplinary action is warranted" following their investigation.

“I think anybody who is a member of your team has the responsibility to conduct him or herself in a way that depicts the team in the best light,” Black said. “Team members count on one another to do that."

Black said social media empowers individuals, while at the same time requiring a high level of responsibility. "It requires a level of maturity. It’s why we have a social media policy."

In CPD's social media policy, under the heading "Personal Use of Social Media," the first listed item reads, "Department personnel are free to express themselves as private citizens on social media sites to the degree that their speech does not impair working relationships in the Department for which confidentiality is important; does not impede the performance of duties, impair discipline and harmony among coworkers, or negatively affect the public perception of the Department."

In 1992, he failed probation as a new officer but was reinstated as a recruit in 1995 and became an officer on April 30 that year.

According to Enquirer archives, Vincent was fired from the Cincinnati Police Department in August 1999 after pleading no contest to speeding on his motorcycle along U.S. 27 in Butler County and failing to have an operator's license. He was reinstated in July 2000 when arbitrators reduced discipline to a 40-hour suspension and said the officer's career could be salvaged with extra training.

Vincent had previously been the subject of multiple disciplinary actions, including dishonesty, failure of good behavior and neglect of duty for six negligent auto accidents in a cruiser, The Enquirer reported.

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In 2007, former Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher lauded Vincent as a hero when he pushed another cop behind cover after a man pulled a gun on officers outside Vito's Nightclub on Reading Road.

CPD Social Media Police

Enquirer reporter Jason Williams contributed to this report.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to remove an error regarding the race of the police officer involved in the shooting of Philando Castile near St. Paul, Minnesota.

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