Latest / Brian Thomas / FOP Pres Ken Kober - Shootings and Street Take Over

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FOP Pres Ken Kober - Shootings and Street Take Over · Brian Thomas

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  Speaker 1: Seven oh six, a thinky about KRSD talk station, busy
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  Speaker 1: weekend for law enforcement downtown Cincinnati and joining the fifty
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  Speaker 1: five KRCE Morning Show. Perfect timing on this FOP President
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  Speaker 1: Ken Kobe, representing the sincint Police Department's Union. Ken, it's
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  Speaker 1: always a pleasure having you on the show, and sorry
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  Speaker 1: for the subject matter. I didn't have anything to do
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  Speaker 1: with it, but a lot of people getting shot over
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  Speaker 1: the weekend in downtown since they is the problem violence
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  Speaker 1: or is it the problem messaging? Which was the message
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  Speaker 1: that we got from the elected officials after the survey
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  Speaker 1: came out from residents about their priorities and where they
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  Speaker 1: feel they'd been left down. Ken, good to have you
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  Speaker 1: back on the show, sir.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, good morning, Brian. Thanks for having me now. It
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  Speaker 2: was a pretty busy and pretty violent weekend in Cincinnati.
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  Speaker 2: I mean there were several shootings every night, including a
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  Speaker 2: homicide of a fifteen year old kid. And it's first
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  Speaker 2: first warm weekend. As soon as you saw the forecast,
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  Speaker 2: just figured that this was going to be exactly what
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  Speaker 2: it was.
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  Speaker 1: And isn't it a sad thing that you can just
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  Speaker 1: pick as soon as the temperature gets more and people
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  Speaker 1: are getting get all murdery out there. What are they
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  Speaker 1: waiting around for the temperatures to warm up so they
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  Speaker 1: can go make good on their threats or whatever. I
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  Speaker 1: just don't get this.
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  Speaker 2: I am.
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  Speaker 1: I just tell you, brother, I am just quite frustrated
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  Speaker 1: this morning with everything's going on in the world. It's
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  Speaker 1: like it feels like I'm overwhelmed. But this violence is inexcusable.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm going to pivot over to the whole street
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  Speaker 1: takeover that took place on Glen WAYN in clas Warsaw.
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  Speaker 1: Are you aware of that, because if you look at
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  Speaker 1: local news reporting, you wouldn't even know what happened.
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  Speaker 2: Ken, Yeah, you know. Unfortunately, and this has become the
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  Speaker 2: reoccurring theme with these juveniles. Either you get one hundred
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  Speaker 2: or two hundred juveniles together in one place for no
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  Speaker 2: other reason than to just to create chaos, you know,
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  Speaker 2: and what ends up happening with this And thankfully it
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  Speaker 2: didn't happen this time, where you know, shots are being
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  Speaker 2: fired and before you know, some kids are shot, and
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  Speaker 2: then parents are wondering, oh my gosh, how did this happen? Well,
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  Speaker 2: it happened because you don't know where your kids are. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: you let them run around, You let them just create
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  Speaker 2: chaos until they get in the middle of such a
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  Speaker 2: chaotic situation that somebody gets hurt seriously, and we see it.
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  Speaker 2: You know, typically it happened down at the banks. You know,
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  Speaker 2: they'll they'll drop off two hundred kids gun at small
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  Speaker 2: park at eleven o'clock at night. And it's the parents
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  Speaker 2: that are dropping these kids off. Oh really, it's not
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  Speaker 2: like they don't know what's going on. You know, a
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  Speaker 2: lot of these are young kids, twelve, thirteen, fourteen years old,
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  Speaker 2: and it's just something that you know, until these parents
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  Speaker 2: decide that they're going to be parents, this is going
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  Speaker 2: to be the reoccurring theme all summer, oh.
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  Speaker 1: And on into the future. Then I think we all
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  Speaker 1: have a little bit more were worry about the society
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  Speaker 1: into the future than just this summer. Although that's the
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  Speaker 1: immediate threat right now. I was unaware that parents were
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  Speaker 1: dropping their young people off at these events. That that's
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  Speaker 1: a new one on me.
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  Speaker 2: Ken. Yeah, I mean, it's it's a shame that we
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  Speaker 2: see these things happen, but we see at anytime there's
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  Speaker 2: a big event. They said, summertime comes, it's it'll be
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  Speaker 2: worse when summer gets here with kids, and the fact
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  Speaker 2: that it's happening now in March is very, very troubling.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, I just cringe at the thought of
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  Speaker 2: what the summer is going to look like.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and it sounds like a bold statement. You are
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  Speaker 1: very definitive on that it is going to get worse,
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  Speaker 1: not sort of, it might get worse, so we need
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  Speaker 1: to worry about it getting worse. You're just convinced that
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  Speaker 1: it's going to which isn't a great marketing effort for
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  Speaker 1: the city of Cincinnati because they have these events all
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  Speaker 1: the time where people get together, you know, concerts, boarding events,
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  Speaker 1: and you know a lot of summertime activities that go on.
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  Speaker 1: I think of I mean going even into october Fest
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  Speaker 1: and the fall everything. There's so many big events like this,
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  Speaker 1: and if we are guaranteed that this kind of thing
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  Speaker 1: is going to happen, I imagine quite a few people decide,
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  Speaker 1: you know what, I'm not going to go down there.
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  Speaker 1: It's not worth it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, very well could happen. But I mean
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  Speaker 2: you look at the consequences that the police have for
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  Speaker 2: these kids. If it's only curfew, well, you have to
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  Speaker 2: take them to a curfew center and they'll give them
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  Speaker 2: some snacks and they'll find out where their parents live
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  Speaker 2: and they take them home. Those are the consequences right
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  Speaker 2: now for kids being out after curfew, you know, engaging
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  Speaker 2: in this kind of behavior. But it's what the city's created,
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  Speaker 2: it's what they want, and the city's certainly delivering on
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  Speaker 2: their promise to make sure that we don't do anything
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  Speaker 2: to these kids. And the end result is these kids
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  Speaker 2: are going to get worse and worse. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Well, once they kick the punishment phase out of law enforcement,
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  Speaker 1: they took all the wind out of the sales. There's
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  Speaker 1: no longer an incentive to not break the law, I guess.
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  Speaker 1: And with I think social media is part of the
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  Speaker 1: problem here, Ken, because apparently videos go viral when you're
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  Speaker 1: out getting together with one hundred of your friends and
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  Speaker 1: you're committing criminal acts. That's the kind of thing people
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  Speaker 1: like to click on. And they all think themselves sort
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  Speaker 1: of social media influencers because you know, one hundred people
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  Speaker 1: or one hundred thousand people decided to click on their
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  Speaker 1: crazy video documenting their criminal activity. We've just fallen off
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  Speaker 1: the map, man, Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And like I said, I mean, you look at
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  Speaker 2: some of these events. Unders, that's one hundred, two hundred kids.
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  Speaker 2: The amount of resources that it takes to corral these
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  Speaker 2: kids up and to calm this down. And meanwhile that's
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  Speaker 2: going on, you know the next nighbor ever, you know,
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  Speaker 2: somebody's being a shot. Yeah. So instead of the police
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  Speaker 2: actually focusing on you know, working on you know, trying
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  Speaker 2: to get violent and you know these violence under control,
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  Speaker 2: you know, they're being pulled away because you get two
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  Speaker 2: hundred kids that are getting together acting just silly.
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  Speaker 1: Well, let's move aside from from just being silly to
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  Speaker 1: something far more, potentially far more nefarious. Can we all
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  Speaker 1: hear about the idea that terrorists, if they commit a
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  Speaker 1: terrorist act, for example, they'll use a diversionary tactic to
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  Speaker 1: draw police away from the area where their terrorist activity
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  Speaker 1: is going to be a concern. So they're all busy,
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  Speaker 1: let's say, dealing with a street takeover involving two hundred
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  Speaker 1: teams then elsewhere because the short resources police have, we're
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  Speaker 1: understaffed by how many officers still ken Cobra and.
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  Speaker 2: We're down about one hundred right now.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, you got a hundred fewer offices we would have
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  Speaker 1: under a normal contingent, which may not even be sufficient
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  Speaker 1: to deal with the criminal challenges that the city faces.
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  Speaker 1: They're busy with two hundred punks and a street takeover,
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  Speaker 1: and then something really nefarious happens across town coordinated perhaps,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, but it seems to me that with
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  Speaker 1: social media, it's really easy to get a bunch of
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  Speaker 1: teenagers together just by one person perhaps coming out and
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  Speaker 1: suggesting it, Hey, we're all going to meet over at
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  Speaker 1: Glen wayn Cleees Warsaw and take over the street tonight.
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  Speaker 1: I suppose some terrorist, nefarious actor could suggest that and
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  Speaker 1: make it happen in order to bring about something more
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  Speaker 1: devastating elsewhere, just saying.
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  Speaker 2: No, no, you're absolutely right. You know, whether that's these kids'
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  Speaker 2: intentions or not, it's a real threat that could happen,
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  Speaker 2: or you know, see somebody that even sees that this
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  Speaker 2: is going to occur now even coordinated it. But take
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  Speaker 2: advantage the fact that this is occurring and the police
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  Speaker 2: resource are going to be here, so I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: do whatever I'm going to do on the other side
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  Speaker 2: of town. You're absolutely right, and it's a real threat,
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  Speaker 2: and these kids go. I don't think they really think
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  Speaker 2: about these things when they do it. But that's where
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  Speaker 2: parents are supposed to step in and be parents, know
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  Speaker 2: where their kids are to prevent some of these things
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  Speaker 2: from happening.
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  Speaker 1: Oh for one of parents out there that actually cares.
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  Speaker 1: You pointed out the outset and now this curfew. Someone
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  Speaker 1: west side, Jim Keefer, brought up the idea that these
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  Speaker 1: kids were violating curfew. Is there a curfew that applies
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  Speaker 1: to that Glen Way Cleves Warsaw area or is that
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  Speaker 1: only in areas like the banks downtown. I'm a little
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  Speaker 1: confused on that one, Ken Cover.
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  Speaker 2: No, I mean, there is a curfew that's that's city
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  Speaker 2: wide for kids that are under eighteen. But the factor
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  Speaker 2: remains is if they're just gathered there and there are
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  Speaker 2: the sole thing that they're doing is violating curfew. The
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  Speaker 2: police are not allowed to take them to jail. They
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  Speaker 2: have to take them to one of these curfew centers.
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  Speaker 2: Like I said, we'll get them, We'll get them some
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  Speaker 2: chips and a drink, and you know, by two o'clock
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  Speaker 2: in the morning, hopefully we know where their parents are
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  Speaker 2: and then we can drop them off there. It just
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  Speaker 2: takes that, like I said, the punishment element out of
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  Speaker 2: all this, so kids have no fear of getting stopped
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  Speaker 2: for curfew. It's like, whatever, I understand, Get me back
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  Speaker 2: to my parents, right, I'll get a ride home. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: this is actually great. I get stopped on the police,
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  Speaker 2: I get a free ride home.
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  Speaker 1: Point but you say the police are not allowed to
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  Speaker 1: haul them into and process them for criminal violation of
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  Speaker 1: the or for a violation of the curfew. Is that
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  Speaker 1: a policy or is the is the law the curfew
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  Speaker 1: law toothless just on its face? In other words, if
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  Speaker 1: there wasn't this police are not allowed policy in place,
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  Speaker 1: could the kids actually face some sort of repercussions at
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  Speaker 1: least theoretically. I understand how lenient the judges are, but theoretically,
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  Speaker 1: if if the judges were stronger on crime, could these
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  Speaker 1: kids face some repercussions?
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  Speaker 2: They could Because the laws haven't changed. The policy is
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  Speaker 2: what's changed. That's that's the part. Is the policy has changed,
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  Speaker 2: not the law. So yeah, I mean the twenty twenty
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  Speaker 2: juvenile justice system has said, we're not taking these kids.
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  Speaker 2: If it's curfew only, we're not taking them, So figure
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  Speaker 2: it out. I mean, we can have a policeman that
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  Speaker 2: could show up there and they just We're not taking
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  Speaker 2: them good, find their parents and just refuse them altogether.
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  Speaker 2: And that's that's why we're in the situation we're in
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  Speaker 2: with these kids in this county. Fact.
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  Speaker 1: So the law says you can process them criminally, and
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  Speaker 1: the policy in the practice is no, we won't do that.
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  Speaker 1: Can I ask you is there a name behind the
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  Speaker 1: person behind the policy? Like, is it Sheryl Long, is
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  Speaker 1: it Iris Roley? Is it the police chief or the
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  Speaker 1: interim police chief? As an occurrence, I mean, where did
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  Speaker 1: this idea of criminal justice come from? Since the curfew
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  Speaker 1: law itself has not changed, Ken.
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  Speaker 2: Well, these are policies that have been set by city hall,
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  Speaker 2: whether it's counsel of the city manager. They're the ones
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  Speaker 2: that determine that this is what we're going to do.
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  Speaker 1: And if the chief does not abide and continues to
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  Speaker 1: pursue it as the law is written, then I suppose
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  Speaker 1: the chief faces removal from office exactly. Oh, maybe we
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  Speaker 1: figured out what happened to police Chief Diji Ken. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know. Ken Cobert, you have a difficult job on
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  Speaker 1: your hands.
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  Speaker 2: You have.
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  Speaker 1: I really appreciate you coming on the Borning Show and
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  Speaker 1: talking to my listeners, to me about this, and we're
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  Speaker 1: left with a sad reality. I think that's all we
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  Speaker 1: can take away from this one. The policy, there's no accountability,
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  Speaker 1: and therefore there's no incentive parents to take care of
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  Speaker 1: what their children are doing, or for the kids even
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  Speaker 1: care about about the aftermath. And two, I guess local
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  Speaker 1: news isn't interested in even reporting on a massive street takeover.
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  Speaker 2: No, you're absolutely right, and that's that's the hard part is,
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  Speaker 2: you know, between all the shootings that occurred, they're trying
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  Speaker 2: to trying to fit how do we how do we
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  Speaker 2: fit a story about two hundred kids, you know, running
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  Speaker 2: around jumping on cars and acting foolish and answers. I
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  Speaker 2: guess if we've going to prioritize violence, I guess I
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  Speaker 2: guess the multiple shootings that occurred is what's gonna going
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  Speaker 2: to get the attention. Not these kids.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, the story about the gunshot wounded the head and
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  Speaker 1: over the rhine, that story about the fifteen year old
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  Speaker 1: boy killed in North Avenue, the person hospitalizing a shooting
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  Speaker 1: lower Price Hill, just print those now. The problem is, Ken,
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  Speaker 1: I think you know it. The kids that are involved
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  Speaker 1: in street takeovers and being generally lawless. And you said
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  Speaker 1: to create chaos. Those kids ultimately become the people behind
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  Speaker 1: the triggers in these other instances.
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  Speaker 2: With a doubt, you know, they dip their toe in
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  Speaker 2: the water, yeah, and breaking the law by doing silly
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  Speaker 2: stuff like this, you know, and then of course it
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  Speaker 2: escalates further and further and further until of course they're
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  Speaker 2: the one that's involved in gun violence, whether it's behind
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  Speaker 2: the behind the gun or the one actually being shot.
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  Speaker 1: Well on behalf of all my listeners, my executive producer
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  Speaker 1: Joe Chaker, and myself, we truly appreciate the since a
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  Speaker 1: police department of the work that they're doing in spite
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  Speaker 1: of the policies that you have to follow. As bad
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  Speaker 1: as it is for our society generally speaking, we all
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  Speaker 1: know where the blame is. And you know what, in fact,
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  Speaker 1: things like this I think are going to boost the
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  Speaker 1: demand for police and the need for more police in neighborhoods.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe it'll boost the cooperation between the citizenry and the
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  Speaker 1: police department so we can catch the bad guys. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know though, with parents dropping their children off for
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  Speaker 1: these crazy activities, we may have been we're just maybe
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  Speaker 1: maybe the horses escape the barn and it's too late.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, Ken Kober. You're always welcome here in
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  Speaker 1: the fifty five Casey Mornish and I appreciate your talking
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  Speaker 1: with me and my listeners today. Thank you, sir for
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  Speaker 1: what you do.
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  Speaker 2: Sure thanks for having me Brian anytime,