Police Chief Tells NAACP Officer Was Wrong

CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati's police chief says he expects to see the final internal affairs report on the tasing of a city councilman's daughter sometime Friday.

Celeste Thomas, 26, daughter of Councilman Cecil Thomas, was shot with a taser gun and arrested Sunday during a traffic stop.

Addressing a meeting of the NAACP at Southern Baptists Church in Avondale Thursday night, Chief Tom Streicher said the officer used unnecessary and excessive force because Thomas was not physically resisting arrest.

"There's not a criminal charge of assaulting a police officer, menacing a police officer, or resisting arrest," says Streicher. "And those are the charges that should be there that would support that use of force. Where's the charge? If it's not there, then I've got to ask the question, 'Then why did you use the taser?'"

Chief Streicher said the cruiser-cam video and witness statements from the arrest of Celeste Thomas, indicate she may have been interfering with officers arresting the man driving her car, but she was not physically resisting.

"If a person is on their knees, hands in the air asking, 'What did I do?’ – are they resisting arrest or are they posing a threat? I would have to say no,” said Streicher.

Our calls to the Fraternal Order of Police went unanswered Thursday night. But the story here on WCPO.com announcing the chief's meeting with the NAACP drew more than 130 comments, most of them angry the chief was not standing behind Officer Plummer.

The chief said, "The crowd is pretty happy in here. But read my e-mail. I got some hate mail over this, 'don't support your officers, blah, blah.' Well I do support the officers, I do support the department, I do support the community, but above all I support my oath of office. I don;t make decisions to make people happy. I make decisions to do the right thing."

Supporters of Officer Plummer were planning a protest at City Hall Saturday.

The chief suspended Officer Plummer's police powers, stripping him of his badge, gun, and placing him on desk duty pending the outcome of the internal investigation.

Meanwhile, Chief Streicher says, if he isn't happy with the report and its recommendations, he'll send it back.