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Whitehall City Council weighs investigating police department after concerns of morale

Council members proposed a measure to investigate the Whitehall Division of Police after hearing leadership and morale concerns.

WHITEHALL, Ohio — Whitehall City Council is considering launching an investigation to examine the work environment within the city’s police department.

During a city council meeting Tuesday evening, council members proposed a measure to investigate the Whitehall Division of Police after hearing leadership and morale concerns. Whitehall Mayor Michael Bivens also attended the meeting.

In June, the Columbus chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police raised concerns about officer morale within the department along with accusations of retaliation and controversial policies from the police chief and deputy chief.

The department was also accused of enforcing “quotas” on its officers, a controversial ticketing policy. While it wasn’t explicitly called a quota, the FOP alleged that the officers were punished if they didn’t meet certain “performance measures.”

Brian Steel, the president of FOP Lodge #9 told 10TV that the issues were growing over time.

“It’s been building up for a couple of years. We’ve rotated different union reps in there to work with them. We try to build bridges. We want a harmonious relationship,” he said during an interview in June.

Members of the FOP unanimously passed a vote of no confidence against Whitehall Police Chief Mike Crispen.

The police chief denied the allegations.

“This is nothing more than a political stunt not supported by most of my employees. The evidence of that is the vote of no confidence conducted by the lodge rather than my agency officers," he said following the no-confidence vote.

During the discussion at Tuesday evening’s city council meeting, Whitehall Mayor Michael Bivens spoke up about the concerns that were raised.

“The process in our charter since 1966 has been very clear that council has specific powers that have been granted by our charter. Council also has specific powers they are limited from having. Just like the mayor has specific powers that have been granted,” he said.

“Out of a concern or consideration for the truth, and given our charter’s ability to investigate such things, that we should go forward with this and find out what that truth is,” Councilmember Gerald Dixon said.

The city council is expected to vote on the measure next month.

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