Portune uses cop shooting to laud jail plan

Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune is using the case of the Blue Ash man who was shot and killed by police (see Enquirer story) as an example of why his Comprehensive Pubic Safety Plan (a sales tax-funded new jail and set of safety programs) is needed.

Had it been in place, he said, perhaps there would have been a different outcome for the unfortunate Charles Bennett, he said.

“There’s no doubt had we had an intake and assessment program in place, my guess is we at least would have had a fighting chance to make a difference in that person’s life,” he said of Bennett. An "intake and assessment" program called Re-entry would be included in the safety plan.

Portune also noted that Bennett was in the county jail recently on a charge of possession of marijuana. He notes critics of the jail plan say people with minor convictions like that shouldn’t be taking up room in the jail.

They're obviously wrong in Portune's view.

"You can’t just look at these raw statistics and draw any real conclusions about the overall nature of the offender and their propensity for future criminal behavior," he said. "The comprehensive safety plan would allow us to have those tools in place."

As for the officers, Portune did take a moment to “commend their bravery." Then he got back on his soap box.

“We can either do the bare-bones minimum thing and continue to cut anywhere we can to scrape things together, or we can do what we all know needs to be done and realize we have this historic opportunity within our grasp,” he said.