After a University of Cincinnati police officer was charged with murder in the off-campus shooting death of a motorist, the Cincinnati City Council has voted unanimously to stop university officers from carrying out off-campus patrols.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the vote formally puts off-campus patrols on hold while the city reviews a 2009 agreement that gives university police the authority to conduct patrols and traffic enforcement in the city's jurisdiction. In the aftermath of the shooting, the university had already voluntarily suspended off-campus patrols by its officers.
The council action comes in response to the July 19 shooting of Sam Dubose, who was not a student, about a half-mile from the University of Cincinnati campus. University Police Officer Ray Tensing stopped Dubose's 1998 Honda Accord for not displaying a front license plate, according to the Hamilton County, Ohio, Prosecuting Attorney's office. Dubose refused to get out of the car, and a body camera on the officer shows Tensing firing a single fatal gunshot at Dubose's head.
Tensing was indicted July 29 on a charge of murder and was immediately fired by the university. Two other university officers who were involved in the investigation of the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave while an outside firm conducts a probe of the shooting and its aftermath
In another action stemming from the fatal shooting, the university has created a new position, vice president for safety and reform, and has appointed Robin Engel to that post.
