Officer right to use ‘F-bomb’ to get attention, chief says

Colerain Township Police Chief Mark Denney said K9 Officer Brian Huntington acted appropriately when he forced a bystander recording an incident at Northwest Passages to move back by pushing her and shouting profanity as he did.

“The use of profanities is generally prohibited unless its purpose is to ‘verbally stun’ a subject to gain compliance,” the chief said.

That’s what Huntington said happened on May 8.

Last week, 19 Colerain Township police officers responded to an “officer needs assistance” call from the school resource officer at Northwest Passages, an alternative school at the corner of Springdale Road and Season Drive.

The resource officer, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Will Gaffney, had an altercation with a teen in the program that became physical and he used his taser to control the student.

A number of parents and bystanders were in the parking lot as the incident spilled outside and some were getting too close to the police activity, the chief said.

Denney said one bystander with a camera refused multiple orders to back away from the officers breaking up the fight, saying she was legally permitted to shoot video.

He said Huntington agreed that she could but she needed to move back.

“The arrested woman was told by three officers five times to back away from the scene and was even escorted to a Colerain Township Police Chief Mark Denney

position that allowed her to continue her videotaping while not being in the arrest scene,” Denney said.

“She refused to comply with those officers’ lawful orders. Officer Huntington saw her approaching an officer who was on the ground with his back to the approaching female. He told her three times to back away from the scene. Seeing she had no intention of complying, Officer Huntington legally forced her to move.”

The chief said usually an investigation is launched in response to a complaint but there were none about this incident.

“I decided to do an investigation to answer any concerns that might be out there,” he said.

Denney said claims on video that the woman was punched or struck have not been proven.

The chief said since 2010, there have been 84 cases of discipline investigations in the department, 43 of which were sustained following an investigation.

Two resulted in the officer being fired, and in six cases, the officer chose to resign in lieu of termination.

A total of 37 reprimands have been issued and in 2012, one officer was demoted following a disciplinary investigation.