More on whether to parole a cop killer

After being criticized last week for voting differently than the rest of Cincinnati City Council on a resolution to oppose a cop killer’s parole, Councilman David Crowley today sent the Ohio Parole Board a letter saying he doesn’t want Roland Reaves out.

Reaves was convicted of the 1974 shooting death of Officer David Cole. He was initially sentenced to death, but had his sentence commuted to life in prison. He could get paroled after a hearing this month.

When Councilman Chris Monzel introduced a resolution last week urging the parole authority to keep Reaves behind bars, Crowley was the only one to vote against it. He wasn’t suggesting Reaves should get out, he said, he was merely saying he didn’t have enough information about Reaves’ behavior in prison to weigh in. He said parole officials would know better than council members did.

Crowley’s vote prompted Councilman Jeff Berding, a fellow Democrat, to say Crowley might have a “warped values system.”

In the letter Crowley sent Friday to the parole board, he wrote that he has been troubled by the resulting “fabricated and untrue” claims by some that his vote meant he was advocating for Reaves’ release. He wrote that that was the wrong message to send to the parole authority, police department, Cole’s family and the residents of Hamilton County.

So Crowley researched Reaves’ 32-year history behind bars and found Reaves has been accused of threatening, fighting, disobeying orders and having weapons.

“I regret that for political gain my position on this matter has been maliciously mischaracterized, resulting in confusion among the citizens of Cincinnati, the family of Officer Cole and the brave men and women of our police department about where I stand,” Crowley wrote. “Let me be clear that the suggestion that I am somehow sympathetic or advocate the killing of police officers is absurd.”

After news of Crowley's letter went out, Republicans praised what they viewed as the councilman's change of heart. They wondered if the You Tube video posted by the Republican Party earlier this week had anything to do with it. In the video, they urged people to call Crowley's office and tell him to change his mind. See the video here.

John Eby, a Republican candidate for council, said "God love him" for writing the letter, but "when we needed one voice, he should have stood up."