Killing of Samuel DuBose

Samuel Vincent DuBose (March 12, 1972 – July 19, 2015), a black 43-year-old man, was a rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and motorcycle enthusiast. He was the founder of a motorcycle club, Ruthless Riders. He attended high school in Cincinnati and was the father of 13 children. He was deeply loved by his family, friends and many in the community. [1][2][3]

Raymond Tensing (born November 13, 1989),[4] a white police officer who was 25 years old at the time of the shooting, had four years of law enforcement experience. He joined the University of Cincinnati Police Department (UCPD) in April 2014,[5] having previously been a well-regarded officer with the department of Greenhills, Ohio.[6] He had left the Ohio State Highway Patrol's training academy after attending for just one day. According to a highway patrol spokesman, he was unable to adapt to the physical and mental requirements.[7]

During the criminal investigation and trial, it was learned that Tensing led his police department in arrests and citations and had the largest racial disparity of any other police officer. Blacks accounted for 82.5% of Tensing's arrests, according to a report cited by the prosecutor.

In 2015, a YouTube video was uploaded by WCPO 9 News Cincinnati where Tensing is seen unlawfully questioning a passenger of a vehicle that had been stopped due to a dragging bumper. Tensing initially refused to call a supervisor and refused to identify himself or badge number. A supervisor was eventually called to the scene and confirmed that the passenger was within his rights to not identify and that the officer should only have been talking to the driver. Tensing detained the two black men for close to 20 minutes, refusing to write the routine citation and let them go.[8] [9]

[10]

The University of Cincinnati Police Department is certified by the state of Ohio and has full police authority throughout the state. They focus their patrols areas on three campuses and the areas around them.[11] UCPD officers receive 616 hours of training at the police academy, plus 80 of rookie training, while city police officers spend 1,040 hours in training.[7]

Since the UCPD's patrol area was expanded to include neighboring areas in 2009, the number of reported crimes in those areas was cut in half by 2014.[7] Officers increased their traffic stops on- and off-campus, tripling the number from 2012 to 2015.[12]

Of its 72 officers, 4 are African American and 1 is Asian American.[7] Unlike the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD), the UCPD was not included in federally mandated reforms following the nearby riots of 2001 that had been in reaction to a shooting of a young black man by city police.[13][7] One UCPD chief resigned in 2013 amid reported low morale, and he was not replaced immediately.[7] Two other black men had been killed by UCPD officers, both with Tasers: a mental patient in 2010 and a student in 2011.[7]

UCPD officers Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschmidt arrived at the scene just after the gunshot. In his bodycam video, Kidd is heard supporting Tensing's statement that he was dragged by the car. According to County Prosecutor Joe Deters, neither officer stated in his official statement to Cincinnati police that he saw Tensing being dragged.[26] Officer-in-Training Lindenschmidt, who had started working in the field only that month, made what have been called "rookie mistakes" in picking up Tensing's fallen flashlight and moving Tensing's vehicle.[18]

Eric Weibel, a UCPD officer who did not witness the shooting, stated in a report that Tensing's uniform looked like he had been dragged. It was later determined that the dirt on Tensing's uniform got there after Tensing shot DuBose in the head and fell to the ground. [27]

The CPD took over the investigation soon after they were called to the scene. During the CPD investigation, Tensing did not have any officer corroborate his account of being dragged. During the trial, the officers on the scene testified that they never saw Ray Tensing being dragged at all. Officers admitted to originally taking Tensing's word for this account, but they each acknowledged that they never witnessed DuBose drag or assault Tensing. [28]

On July 29, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Deters stated in a press conference that the shooting was "asinine" and "senseless". He said that DuBose was not acting violently or aggressively.[29] With "an abundance of caution in anticipation" of Deters' announcement, the University of Cincinnati closed its Uptown and Medical campuses at 11:00 a.m. The campuses resumed normal operations the next day.[30]

On July 31, the Fraternal Order of Police–Ohio Labor Council, a union that represents UCPD employees, filed a grievance asking that Tensing be reinstated to his position on the police force, asserting that he was terminated "without just cause".[31][32] Resolution of the grievance is postponed pending the outcome of the criminal case.[33]

In the wake of the shooting, Deters called for the disbandment of the UCPD force and its replacement with city police officers. The incident also drew attention to the presence of armed law enforcement on college campuses.[34] There was some public and academic criticism of Deters' comments, on the basis that his rhetoric would jeopardize Tensing's right to a fair trial and that they were anti-police.[35]

The Chief of the CPD said that the memorandum of understanding, signed in 2009 by his predecessor, which allowed UCPD to patrol areas neighboring the university, should be revoked.[7] He said, "I don't believe their officers have the skill set to police Cincinnati with the same philosophy of fairness and cultural competency that my officers display."[7]

Protesters holding a sign in honor of DuBose

The body camera recording of Tensing shooting DuBose has garnered considerable attention. The footage has been compared to a first-person-shooter video game[36] and described as so "disturbing" that Cincinnati police prepared for large protests and riots before the footage's release.[37]

As of July 30, at least four demonstrations have been held around the country in response to DuBose's death.[38] A Black Lives Matter vigil and rally in support of DuBose was held in Cincinnati on July 31, the third such event since the shooting. The victim's mother said, "As long as we stand up for the righteous, we going to be OK. I would come out here every night, I will go city to city because now I'm involved, my child was involved." Participants chanted "I am Sam DuBose."[39] Around 300 participants subsequently walked through Over-the-Rhine to Fountain Square. Six people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest during the march.[40] One hundred protesters joined a "United March for Justice" on September 19, linking DuBose's killing with the deaths of Tamir Rice, John Crawford, and Samantha Ramsey.[41]

A report, commonly called the "Kroll Report", released in September 2015 by Kroll Inc., a risk consulting firm hired by the university, said that Tensing's bodycam video showed that he was not dragged. It also said that the car had not moved, or had barely moved, before the gunshot was fired. The Kroll report concluded that Ray Tensing was never dragged, that Ray Tensing violated several police protocols and that he unnecessarily escalated the situation. The report indicated that Sam DuBose did not follow the officer's orders. Tensing's attorney said, "I don't agree with their analysis or their conclusions."[42][43] The report's recommendations include reviewing the scope of the UCPD's jurisdiction, improving relevant training and policies, clarifying reporting requirements following officer-involved shootings, providing cultural diversity training, and assessing the diversity of officers within the UCPD.[18]

Following the shooting the UCPD stopped making off-campus traffic stops.[44]

On October 16, a student group, named "Irate 8" for the eight percent of black students at University of Cincinnati campuses, presented a list of demands to the university president. The list includes taking officers Kidd and Lindenschmidt off patrol, conducting full background checks of police and other university employees, and mandating racial sensitivity training for all staff and students. President Santa J. Ono agreed to meet with them and discuss their demands.[45][46][47]