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Edit Transcript - Whitehall Police Officer Fired for Standing up to Tyrant Police Chief
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Whitehall Police Officer Fired for Standing up to Tyrant Police Chief
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[Music] have you ever wondered why good police officers don't stand up and speak out against tyrannical police Chiefs and elected officials it's because when an officer speaks out he gets fired this is exactly what happened to officer Enrique Ortega of the whiteall division of police he chose to to stand up and speak out and now this police officer with over 20 years of experience this husband and father of four is now unemployed this man who has honorably served his community for over 20 years is now struggling to feed his family because the whiteall chief of police Mike Crispen puts his personal feelings above the needs of his employees and Ohio labor law whiteall police chief Mike Crispen is a coward who leads his organization by fear officer Ortega was fired to send a message to the other officers of the department if you speak out or seek help from the union your career is over this all began in the spring of 2024 when officer Ortega serving as the Department's fop union grievance rep administered a morale survey before we get too far it's important to understand the role of an fop grievance rep the officers of the whiteall division of police are members of a labor union the Fraternal Order of Police or fop when the officers have an issue at work that they don't believe can be resolved in house they will often contact a union rep who will file a grievance and help negotiate with city leaders and the police Administration to resolve the problem this is how the fop has worked for over a 100 years getting back to this specific case the officers with the whiteall division of police went to officer Ortega with a problem the morale of the department was extremely low this was made clear by the fact that a department with 37 sworn officers lost 14 of them to early retirement and transfers in recent years that means over onethird of the department left early this would be a red flag to any reasonable person in a leadership position with this information in mind officer Ortega administered a survey to quantify the state of morale working conditions and mental health on the department the results of the survey were staggering almost 75% of the officers stated they feel overwhelmed at work about 80% of the officers stated they feel anxious at work once again 80% of the officers stated they feel depressed at work but not at home about 90% of the officers stated they feel angry at work roughly 90% of the officers stated morale is below average to horrible on the White Hall division of police a majority of the officers stated they do not wish to stay in whiteall until retirement among the reasons the officers gave for feeling this way were toxic leadership unfair internal Affairs investigations inconsistent discipline and Punishment systems constantly changing officers schedules without Fair notice and a ticket and arrest quota that is being used for promotions and job assignments on May 16th armed with this information officer Ortega and local fop board member Steve Mason presented the results of the survey to whiteall Mayor Michael T bevans on May 28th the mayor asked for a copy of the presentation then conspicuously on May 30th officer Ortega was relieved of Duty and stripped of his badge and gun whiteall chief of police Mike chrisen Justified his actions by stating that officer Ortega was threatening to cause problems for the Department if his demands were not met he's complaining about officer Ortega threatening to file legal actions against the city to improve working conditions for its police officers this is Officer Ortega's responsibility as a union rep and the chief knows this is Union business this is proven by the chief's own recorded conversation with one of his lieutenants on June the 3 um you think he's you did you think that he was in a position that he could cause things harm here I think that's true uh I think he could um I think that you know what not necessarily causing harm but disrupting operations as far as just filing AG grievance on every little thing which of course we're allowed to do but it's more you know traditionally we try to work together if we can to come up with Solutions um and additionally he has the as the grievance threat for patrol and the contract negotiator for the patrol he has the year Patrol have you ever had any interactions with um the union yourself as the union chair that that where they would even permit that not explicitly but it's been basically understood that my position as a union rep means that I will frequently find myself in at odds with management my goal is not necessarily to come to terms it's you know in some cases to whatever it takes to win from that day forward Chief Lord farquad began scheming for a way to get rid of Officer Ortega he and his minions began sifting through hours upon hours of Officer Ortega's bodyw warn camera footage looking for a reason to justify terminating him the evidence they found is laughable but that did not stop them Chief Michael crisen farquad found three Clips taken completely out of context totaling 21 seconds to justify the firing of Officer Ortega saying he made multiple inappropriate comments on body camera that discredit the department forgot a much of sucks having to wear this uniform looking forward to retiring every day you what 25 years I'm going to go and pretend to do some work this afternoon I'm PR I'm done for the best in the interest of true transparency I have the full Clips with context and I would like to share them with you now the first clip was recorded on May 23rd 2024 where you'll hear officer Ortega complaining about how uncomfortable his uniform is during the clip officer Ortega mentions that he's been off work for more than a week and is complaining that the body armor and gun belt are causing him pain this is a very common complaint made by anyone who has ever worked the street right a bunch of sucks having to wear this uniform my body's like nope it's been three almost 3 weeks without it the next clip shows officer Ortega tell a man that he's looking forward to retirement as an officer with 23 years on the street he should be looking forward to his retirement I tried to go out on life things I appreciate that how you been by the way hey man looking forward to retiring every day you've been what 25 years uh 16 here in whiteall 23 total he was not driv no I way up North midd nowhere the third clip shows officer Ortega joking with a citizen about pretending to look busy this was after a lengthy conversation with the citizen about tree trimming expenses or almost 40,000 that is ridiculous a year but he said you know that's part of doing business so he's got a lot of properties and a lot of cash so I don't know I just you know I got better use for money than just yeah give it away me too me too all right sir well I'm going to go pretend to do some work this afternoon I'm pretend I'm done for the day all right have a better day there is also a fourth clip that is supposed to be evidence of of Officer Ortega being a racist in this clip he stops a black man for driving 65 and a 35 he writes the man a ticket for driving 55 in A35 then asks for consent to search the man's vehicle this conversation lasts about a minute and 40 seconds several times during the conversation you'll hear officer Ortega tell the man I'm asking for your consent you can say no I want you to understand you have the right to make this decision according to Chief Crispen this conversation was racial profiling you have any weapons on you bud no weapons I'm going to ask you just keep your hands out your pocket for me okay is there anything in that card you need to know about man no sir no weed no sir I don't smoke I don't drink what's with all air fresheners hanging on the turn signal then man sir I always have air fresheners I get that but that's like a dozen plus it's like almost two dozen she actually gets on me for that yeah yes sir yeah I don't smoke I don't drink so there's nothing in the car nothing in the car do you mind if I take a look yeah yes I can't take a look or yes you mind I mean there's nothing in the car I mean I would want to talk to my mother about that uh but there's nothing in the car listen you have the right to say no right I'm just asking you mind I mean and I talk to my mother about it dad's car right you're the one driving it you're in charge of it you're responsible for everything that's in it right yes sir okay that's how this works sir so you can tell me no it's not going to change anything uhhuh all right I mean I want I want you to understand that you have the right to make this decision yes sir because you are in control of this car yes sir you're the one responsible with everybody and everything inside of it while you're driving exactly so if you'd say no that's fine that's not going to change anything on my end I'm simply asking if you minded my I mean I would like to talk to at least my mother a about it how old are you guys I'm 22 22 yes sir okay so that's one of the joys of being an adult R you get to make these decisions now yeah okay you can say no it's going to be fine it's cool yeah but I like I said I still want to talk to my mother about it she's on the phone right now so I would want to talk to her about it and then we can go from there but like I said I have nothing I have nothing to hide I work at Apple I work for Apple I'm a music producer I literally about to leave to go to New York to Sony right have nothing to hide have no warrants don't smoke don't drink I just left the gym all right nothing at all all right well listen I tell you what we'll go ahead and just finish this up okay I'm going to change this because on this citation I put um no you didn't show me right then but I can go I'll fix it real quick it's not a big deal on my end right did yes you did show proof of insurance all right yes sir yes sir soste of second get for 60 something plus M hour right which in the state of Ohio would be consider a reckless operation when you're 21 plus over the speed limit okay I started you for 55 okay okay that means you do not have to appear in Fort if we don't want to according to a July 8th press release officer Ortega was fired for patterns of unsafe acts with the use of weapons unprofessional interactions with the public and a substantiated complaint involving racial profiling the case of unsafe acts with weapons was a case where he attempted to use a Taser on a fleeing suspect who was riding a bicycle he was complimented for doing a great job but reminded to be careful using the taser on someone who might receive a secondary injury I.E falling off a bicycle at the end of the day it's clear that officer Ortega was fired because the whiteall chief of police Mike crispin's feelings were hurt when officer Ortega pointed out the fact that the officers of his Department do not like him Chief Mike crisen is a type of corrupt tyrannical leader who will lie about his employees and mischaracterize their actions rather than accept criticism and acknowledge the fact that he is actually the problem officer Ortega needs to be committed for his efforts to protect the officers of the whiteall division of police and for his courage to stand up to the cowards who abuse their power and authority Chief Mike crisen has shown that he lacks the emotional fortitude or the Integrity required to be the chief of police
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