Rose Valentino
Rose Valentino is a police officer from Cincinnati, Ohio.[1]
In 2011 she was one of the four officers followed by the reality TV show Police Women of Cincinnati.[3]
Contents
Her role in a 2019 illegal arrest
Valentino played a role in an incident when two black men were improperly arrested and handcuffed, and accused of home invasion.[4] One of the men was Jerry Isham, a licensed realtor, who had gone through the proper steps to show his client a home that was up for sale. He had scheduled an inspection with the owner's realtor, and had obtained the key to the home through the realtor's key box. But a suspicision neighbor, former police officer Thomas Branigan, phoned police to report an active "break and enter". Two other officers, Dustin Peet and David Knox arrived first, but Valentino was the first officer to draw a weapon and point it at the men. Valentino handcuffed Isham, the realtor, and directed Peet to handcuff the client.
Valentino's sole explanation for keeping the men in handcuffs was that she wanted to verify Isham's claim he was a realtor.[4] She conducted a search, later deemed illegal, of Isham's pockets, where she found business cards identifying him as a realtor. An inspection of the door showed no sign of a break-in.
Eventually at least nine other Police officers joined the initial three, while the realtor and his client remained in handcuffs.[4] Police were criticized, in an official report, for failing to secure the scene. In particular they allowed former police officer Brannigan to prowl the scene, while armed with his privately owned weapon.
Cincinnati eventually settled with Isham and his client, paying them $151,000.[5]
2020 temporary suspension, following a domestic dispute
in 2020 Fox News reported Valentino and her sister Carmen were arrested over a domestic dispute.[6] Her police powers were suspended, pending a review, and she was placed on administrative duties.
2022 suspension, and dismissal, over uttering racial slurs
In July 2022 Valentino was suspended a second time when footage from her body-cam was released, and listeners could hear her utter a series of long racist rants.[7][8] Valentino claimed popular music, and the language she heard on the street, desensitized her, and made her treat the emotionally charged "N-word" as one she could use casually.[9]
In redacted transcripts Valentino was quoted as saying[9]:
Valentino was dismissed, from the Police, in September of 2022.[5]
After her dismissal from the force the Cincinnati Enquirer illustrated an editorial with an editorial cartoon, where a police woman say officers "Protect and Slur".[2]
In October 2022 the city of Cincinnati changed its policy on racial slurs.[10] Prior to the change senior officials were merely authorized to suspect city employees after it was confirmed they had used racial slurs. After another officer, Kelly Drach, was confirmed to have used racial slurs, city council changed the rules, authorizing senior officials to immediately dismiss employees confirmed to have used racial slurs.
A 2023 review endorsed her dismissal.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Meet the Policewomen: Rose Valentine". The Learning Channel. Archived from the original on 2011-01-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20110116034129/http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/police-women-of-cincinnati/meet-the-officers-04.html. Retrieved 2022-08-15. "She is a Cincinnati native who loves nothing more than putting bad guys behind bars and making the city safer for her young daughter, Lily, and fiance Matt."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kevin Necessary (2022-09-02). "It's Necessary: Police should protect and serve, not slur". Cincinnati Enquirer. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/2022/09/02/its-necessary-police-should-protect-and-serve-not-slur/65470010007/. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ↑ "TLC's "Police Women of Cincinnati" Crack Down on Crime in the Queen City". the Futon Critic. January 11, 2011. http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2011/01/11/tlcs-police-women-of-cincinnati-crack-down-on-crime-in-the-queen-city-51510/20110111tlc01/. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Nick Swartsell (2019-07-16). "Cincinnati Police Sued After Realtor, Client Handcuffed While Inspecting Home for Sale". Cincinnati Citybeat. Archived from the original on 2022-07-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20220725213123/https://www.citybeat.com/news/cincinnati-police-sued-after-realtor-client-handcuffed-while-inspecting-home-for-sale-12162811. Retrieved 2024-04-22. "According to the lawsuit, officers handcuffed two men during a scheduled visit to a West Price Hill house that was up for sale. One of the men was a licensed realtor."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Madeline Fening (2022-07-07). "Rose Valentino, Officer Who Said N-Word On Body Camera, Will Not Return to CPD". Cincinnati Citybeat. Archived from the original on 2023-07-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20230709021138/https://www.citybeat.com/news/rose-valentino-officer-who-said-n-word-on-body-camera-will-not-return-to-cpd-15571370. Retrieved 2024-04-22. "That decision came down last week after independent arbitrators heard testimony from both the city and the police union, but leaders from the NAACP and the police union stand in stark disagreement as to why Valentino was not reinstated."
- ↑ Jennifer Edwards Baker (2020-03-24). "Cincinnati police officer, sister arrested when argument at card game turns violent". Fox News (Morgan Township, Ohio). Archived from the original on 2022-08-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20220801131301/https://www.fox19.com/2020/03/24/cincinnati-police-officer-sister-arrested-when-argument-over-card-game-turns-violent/. Retrieved 2022-08-15. "Rose Valentino, 38, and her sister, Angela Hauger, 43, are accused of hitting each other with fists and repeatedly striking the hood of each other’s vehicles with an umbrella, according to criminal complaints filed in Butler County Area I Court."
- ↑ "Police: Cincinnati officer caught on body camera using racial slur". WLWT (Cincinnati). 2022-07-28. Archived from the original on 2022-08-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20220731140640/https://www.wlwt.com/article/cincinnati-police-officer-body-cam-racial-slur-valentino/40711054#. Retrieved 2022-08-15. "A Cincinnati police officer has had her police powers suspended after her body camera caught her saying a racial slur while stuck in traffic on duty in April."
- ↑ David Propper (2022-07-26). "Cincinnati cop, ex-reality TV star, caught on bodycam using N-word". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2022-07-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20220730130626/https://nypost.com/2022/07/26/ex-reality-tv-cincinnati-cop-rose-valentino-caught-on-body-cam-using-n-word/. Retrieved 2022-08-15. "WLWT 5 reported that Valentino, a member of the force since 2008, was driving in a police car to a stationhouse on April 5 and she got stuck behind a line of cars waiting to pick up students outside Western Hills University High School. When she activated her lights to get cars to move and they didn’t, she became agitated, the internal review reportedly states."
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Alberto Luperson (2022-07-26). "Cop Who Lashed Out with N-Word Said Slur Slipped into Her Vocabulary from Music and ‘Hearing People Talk on the Street’: Authorities". Law and Crime magazine. https://lawandcrime.com/crime/cop-who-lashed-out-with-n-word-said-slur-slipped-into-her-vocabulary-from-music-and-hearing-people-talk-on-the-street-authorities/. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ↑ "City of Cincinnati changes policy on employees using racial slurs". WKRC-TV. 2022-10-20. https://local12.com/newsletter-daily/city-cincinnati-changes-policy-employees-using-racial-slurs-sensitivity-discrimination-language-termination-cpd-officers-rose-valentino-kelly-drach-ohio. Retrieved 2024-04-22. "Currently, the city's policy treats slurs the same way it does profanity, course [sic] language, or being rude to the public."
