NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio — The city of North Ridgeville has hired a law firm to conduct an independent review of the police department.
“Well, you know, it’s the operations of the police department that have been in some ways negatively impacting morale,” Mayor Kevin Corcoran.
The police union says Chief Michael Freeman is aggressive and verbally abusive and some officers don’t want to work for him anymore.
Brian Holb is General Counsel for the Ohio Patrolman’s Benevolent Association representing North Ridgeville. He says at least three to five officers have jumped ship for other departments.
The mayor is having a law firm dig deeper.
News 5 Investigators asked Holb to explain the allegations against Chief Freeman.
“There’s been a myriad of things, but usually it revolves around the way the chief interacts with these folks using verbally abusive language, cussing at them, becoming visibly upset, and shaking, becoming aggressive,” Holb said.
Holb says it’s not just physical interactions but claims the chief uses performance evaluations punitively.
“Several months ago, an officer made a complaint to the mayor’s office. The chief came up to him and grabbed his shirt collar because he didn’t have his proper brass on his shirt collar,” Holb said.
He says officers and other police staff filled out this workplace climate survey.
It shows morale problems, and 79% said they had no confidence in the chief as a competent leader.
It also revealed 64% are not comfortable approaching the chief and discussing issues with him.
Holb says one example is when Chief Freeman retaliated when a 27-year K9 officer gave him advanced notice about applying for a new job.
“The chief unilaterally decided that he was going to pull that K9 off the street,” Holb said.
News 5 Investigators were told Chief Freeman wasn’t available when we stopped by. A car was parked in his designated spot.
Mayor Kevin Corcoran emailed the police department last month, which indicated serious concerns.
"When we’re losing a police officer to other communities, we needed to find out why. And see if we can make some changes,” Mayor Corcoran said.
The mayor says there are 43 officers on the force. His email pointed to an unusually high amount of officers leaving over the last 10 years.
The mayor says he’s concerned about officers who can retire soon and officers not willing to stay to replace leadership roles in an environment where it’s hard to recruit
News 5 Investigators asked the mayor if this was a case where officers do not have confidence in their police chief to set things straight.
“Well, that’s what this review might uncover. But I don’t know that for sure,” Mayor Corcoran said.
News 5 Investigators asked Holb if the chief needs to be fired.
“I think there needs to be a change in leadership there whether he steps down either through retirement or is removed by the mayor I think for the morale and the service that’s provided to the people of North Ridgeville, there needs to be a change. Yes,” said Holb.
News 5 Investigators called and emailed the chief about the allegations and we are waiting for a response.
The mayor says the law firm will review the police department and issue him a report by the end of July.
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