September 9, 2026 • 17 mins
Willie talks with Cincinnati FOP President Ken Kober about the 9/11 terrorist attacks as the 25th anniversary approaches.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, Billy Cunningham, The Great American. Welcome this Wednesday afternoon
to Tri-State, September 9th, getting ready for September 11th, which
is a 25th year commemoration of the terrorist attack on
our nation.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
9-11-01 is a date that will live in infamy. Coming
up later will be Sherry Few, who's going to talk
about the memorial there in New York City and what's
happening with the toxic air and what that means down
the road. But until then, Ken Cobra is the head
of the FOP. Also, Ken Cobra monitors, I'm sure, Reds
baseball kicking off tonight after six o'clock in L.A. And
(00:40):
the Reds have lost 10 games in a row in
Chavez Ravine. Got two more to go. We'll see what
happens down the road. But nonetheless, Ken Cobra, welcome again
to the Bill Cunningham Show. And Ken, are you following
Reds baseball? Are you watching the games and listening from
the left coast until about two o'clock in the morning?
I am.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I'm a fan regardless of what their record says. So, yes.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
They're in last place, but what the heck. You know, Ken,
all we have in life is hope. And I see
these stories that the Castellanians are going to sell the Reds.
And I see these stories that they now offered Dela
Cruz $ 700 million over about 12 years. Just pick the
number of years. $ 700 million. And assuming there's baseball next year,
which might be a bad assumption if there isn't, then
(01:20):
he has one more year here, which would be 2028.
And then after the 29 season, he's gone. Here's one
little kicker before we talk about police matters. He signed
a contract about six, seven years ago when he was
18 and a half years old, where he received $ 350, 000
from this company in Miami, $ 350, 000, which to an 18
(01:41):
and a half year old, that's all the money in
the world. But the exchange was that he had to
give this group 8% of his future earnings. So if
he signs a $ 700 million deal, my simple Deer Park
math tells me that's about $ 56 million he's got to
pay to this other group. Plus, he's making $ 800, 000 this year,
which means he's paying that group $ 64, 000.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
That's one hell of a deal.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So we hope Della Cruz understands what's going on.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Let's talk about police matters.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Number one, the last several days, you, as the head
of the FOP, Thousand Men and Women Strong, have been
detailed to Clifton. I've had four to five business owners
send me nasty emails saying, what are they doing? They're
killing my business. I've had students text me and saying,
this isn't a college life. In order to have shots
(02:30):
fired and to have police all around the campus as
I'm trying to go to English class, I have to
walk over some barricades. Then you have the parents that
are very unhappy with what's going on. First of all,
tell the American people why that is necessary. And secondly,
how long will it last?
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Well, I know right now it's temporary. I was actually
in UC's campus Saturday for a football game. Had a
great time.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
There were no problems.
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Yeah, there was a lot of police presence, which you
would think people would make them feel safer. Because like
I said, I certainly didn't have any problems there.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Actually, as I drove up to the campus, the streets
were open. But I get it.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Right now, it's a matter of we have got to
figure out how to get this violence under control. And unfortunately,
if the courts aren't going to help then the police
are going to have to do something just to try
to make it a safer environment, which is what they're doing.
I understand the frustration of businesses.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
I don't blame them. But we've got to find a
solution to this.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Well, one of the things I try to avoid is
high crime areas. I just don't think I need to
be shot at this point in my life. If you're
a business owner, a parent, or a student, is there
a reasonable fear that the UC campus is dangerous?
Speaker 5 (03:46):
Well, yeah, I mean, I think any time you're anywhere,
I mean, the city of Cincinnati has known that it
can be violent. I could tell you that especially when
there's large-scale events, especially when there's large-scale events, you see
that there's typically not a lot of problems. Riverfest went
off pretty much without a hitch this weekend. Like I said,
the UC games, I've been a season ticket holder there
(04:08):
for a couple of years, and I've never felt unsafe
being there. But then again, at two o'clock in the morning,
if you're leaving a party, you're a college kid and
you may have drank a little bit too much. Yeah,
there is certainly a propensity that you may become a victim.
It's a situation that you put yourself in. Unfortunately, that
can dictate whether that happens or not.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
You said a magical word, which was judges. There are
some judges like Judge Silverstein in municipal court that do
not permit police officers to sit in the jury box
waiting for their case to be called. And we can
talk about why that's necessary. But how much of a
problem in Cincinnati, Hamilton County are liberal judges, which we've
not had that problem to the last 10 years or so.
(04:50):
It used to be, if you committed a serious crime,
you got serious time. It used to be that if
you committed a crime as a juvenile, that's like murder, rape, robbery,
that kind of stuff. And you're 16, 17 years old,
you're bound over. That doesn't happen anymore. And so when
you say judges to what are you referring?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
No judges that are soft on crime.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
And unfortunately, somehow, in this county, law and order, public
safety has become a partisan issue.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Not really sure how.
Speaker 5 (05:20):
25 years ago, when I first started in this job,
it didn't matter what judge you.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Went in front of.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
You didn't even know as a young policeman who a
Republican or a Democrat judge was, it didn't matter. Because
if you went in front of them and the person
that was there was found guilty, they were held accountable.
That was just the reality of it. Now, and to
your point, now here we are in 2026 and it's like,
you got maybe a 50-50 chance of having a judge
(05:46):
that's going to support law and order at the courthouse.
And that's something that's extremely frustrating. It's extremely frustrating, not
only for officers, but for victims. Why am I going
to report a crime if I know that the likelihood.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Of this person actually being held accountable is very little?
That becomes a challenge.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
That's a point some of my so-called experts say is
that the crime is up, but reporting a crime is down.
And many times if you figure out, My car's been
broken into several times in Mount Adams or Mount Auburn
or any other communities in the Tri-State, including Northern Kentucky.
It's an insurance matter. And there was one night in
Mount Adams, I think it were 50 cars that were
(06:22):
broken into. And there was a, because of a flock camera,
there was a license plate of someone pulling away. But
all those individuals, those were 50 crimes. And I'm told
that hardly any of them reported it. Because after all,
they said it's an insurance matter. I'm not going to
do it. And so- But when I was a younger attorney,
let's say if you were in front of a Judge Fellerhoff,
(06:43):
a Judge Black, if you're in front of Judge Niehaus
or Judge Bettman, if you're in front of Judge Donilon,
all Democrats, by the way, they did not sentence significantly
different than the so-called Republican judges. And it was not partisan.
That is, if you did a serious thing, you're going away.
And now the assumption is if you do a serious thing,
(07:04):
you're not going away. In fact, you're going to be
in some diversion program or not convicted at all. And
you see it in room A, which is where people
go when they're first arrested. It used to be there
was 200 people in room A. Room A is where
you go the night after you're arrested and you're in handcuffs.
The judge sets a bond. Have you noticed a lack
of attendance of criminals in room A because they're not
(07:26):
getting arrested?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Sure, absolutely. I mean, that's a difficult thing.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
Where did we become a society where someone who breaks
into your car and steals things from you, and that
is a theft. When did that become that this is
just an insurance matter? That to me is insane. That
is nothing but justifying that the existence of low-level crimes
and at some point society saying, you know what? We
can live with cars getting broken into. Well, I'm not
(07:53):
okay with it. And as I just saw yesterday, I
guess the– guy that tried to rob Hollywood Casino out
in Dearborn County, got sentenced to 52 years in prison.
If that doesn't send a message to criminals, don't commit
crime in.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Dearborn County, I don't know what does.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Well, you can commit the same crime at the Hard
Rock Cafe, and you probably would be in a diversion program. Indiana,
I practice around the tri-state. Indiana is terrible when it
comes to criminal defense attorneys. Covington is terrible when it
comes to criminal defense attorneys. In fact, it's hard to appear.
You want to get your case in Hamilton County. That
(08:30):
was not that when you started as a cop 25,
30 years ago, was not the case. You wanted to
maneuver your case out of Claremont County, which is tough
and get that to Hamilton County.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
And just the opposite is true right now, right?
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, without a doubt.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
It's like everybody, they were like, hey, we're fine committing
crime in Hamilton County because we know that the judges
are going to be really soft on us if they're
going to do anything at all. So I'm not going
to go to Claremont County, Warren County.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I'm not going to go to Dearborn County, Boone or Campbell.
I'm not going to those.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Places because I know I'm going to get locked up
and they're going to keep me. And that's what does
drive crime in this county. That's what's– I don't understand
how they've not been able to figure this out. But
it continues to happen. And to your point, we'll see
what happens. There's a lot of judges' races in November.
There are a lot of law and order judges. that
(09:20):
either are on the.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Bench or want to get on the bench, and we'll
see what the voters say.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Judge Leah Dinkalocker is one who will sentence criminals to jail.
And in juvenile court, Judge Bloom, Carrie Bloom, is one
that will not send criminals to jail. And she's more
important in a sense because she's the presiding judge in
juvenile court, Hamilton County. All the juvenile cases are under
her auspices. Unlike in common police court or municipal court,
(09:45):
there's 14 or 16 judges that could be chopped up
one way or another. Let's go back 25 years when
you were a younger cop. What was your reaction to
about nine, 8 43 AM in the morning on nine
11 Oh one, where was Ken Cobra at that point?
Speaker 5 (10:01):
Ironically, I was on central parkway with a van of
city employees.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
We were going to help.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
There was a homicide that just occurred and they believe
the body was in a wooded area up in like
the Carthage Rose lawn area.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Uh, and we.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Get a phone call, Hey, um, the body's been found,
you guys are good, and we're driving back, and a
buddy of mine calls me, worked downtown at the time,
and is like, hey, do you see what's going on?
And we made it back to the police academy, which
is on Longworth Hall at the time, made it back
to there just in time to see the second plane
hit a tower, and it was just, it was a
memory that I'll never, never be able to forget, much,
(10:39):
much like many other people having to endure what has
come after that. It's Just it's a somber time and
it's a memory most of us don't want to remember,
but you can't ever get it out of your head.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
About 500 police officers and first responders were murdered. 25
years later, this is somewhat political. 25 years later, the
mayor of New York City is Mamdani. He signs a
proclamation and he passes the pen to someone who represented
Al-Qaeda terrorists. So we go from 9-11, New York City,
(11:12):
we're under attack, it's war, and we're going to have
our recompense, to 25 years later, New Yorkers elect an
Islamic extremist to be their mayor. Does that say something
about the journey that America has undertaken the past 25 years?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Sure it does.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
I wish we could go back to September 12, 2001,
when this country, regardless of political affiliations, regardless of anything,
We had Americans. We had everybody that was rooting for
this country. They were rooting for each other as we
were trying to figure out how to navigate through this tragedy.
And 25 years later, this is what we have, people
(11:51):
that are saying that the United States deserved this attack.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
It is insane.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
And these are people that they're trying to get elected
to represent people in the United States.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
It's absolutely crazy that something like this is even occurring.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
One other related issue, I noticed the mayor gave a
comment the other day about whether or not the killing
of Ryan Hinton was justified. To go back in time
a little bit, this began the process that resulted in
the murder of a deputy sheriff. Larry Henderson was murdered
by the father of Ryan Hinton, and the mayor, Eftab Piroval,
said he wasn't going to comment on whether it was
(12:26):
a justified shooting or not. The shooting's been cleared by
Connie Pillage, the county prosecutor. She said it was a
good a good shooting because he had a reasonable fear
of losing his life. So the unidentified police officer in
Cincinnati killed Ryan Hinton. They were only involved in stealing cars.
One of them came out of Edgewood, Kentucky. And I
know at that point, the county prosecutor in Kenton County,
(12:49):
Rob Sanders has a holder on one of the three
individuals who stole the car to make sure he didn't
come out of Kenton County. In fact, that individual was
hurt on a, you know, there's a big sign in
the Kenton County jail that says you're being recorded. He,
He gave a telephone call to a neighbor, a friend
of his in Hamilton County from Kenton County, and he
recorded a saying, Kenton County doesn't play. Kenton County doesn't play.
(13:12):
It was under a high bond. And the other ones
in Hamilton County, the other two boys, shall we say,
got little or no punishment. What is the feeling of
police when it's going to take months and months and
months for the mayor and the city manager to clear
the officer in Cincinnati who shot Ryan Hinton because of
Ryan Hinton's behavior?
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Well, it's frustrating.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
I mean, you can go to work every day, put
your life on the line, make the right decisions, and
still there is a fear of being politically prosecuted. That's
just the reality of this. That did not occur in
this case, thankfully. But, I mean, can you imagine the
weight on these officers' shoulders where they wait for months
to find out, am I going to get charged criminally?
(13:54):
How am I going to make sure that my family's fed?
How am I going to make sure that my kids
have a parent that's going to be there? Those are
things that weigh on officers, and it weighs on officers
to this day. Every day I get phone calls from
officers going, man, I am so tired of confronting these
juveniles because they're reckless. I would rather face an adult
with a firearm before a juvenile with a firearm because
(14:15):
I know that it is likely going to go bad
with these juveniles.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
And Ryan Hinton was in possession of a gun, and
he was, what, 17 years old, stealing, heisting cars all
over the tri-state. And a split-second decision had to be
made by that cop. And when you have a juvenile
with a gun, emotions are running high, testosterone is pumping,
he wants to extricate himself from the scene, and he
(14:41):
looks and sees a cop to his left. It would
take a half a second for him to have that
weapon out, which was in his hand at some point
because it was dropped and he picked it up again,
to kill that officer or to maim him for life.
Either way, and the officer made a split-second decision. And
I hate to inform you of this, but Connie Pillich
is the county prosecutor. If in the next election she
(15:02):
loses in the primary to someone more liberal than her,
it is not unusual for that county prosecutor, the new one,
to go back and say, we're going to prosecute that cop,
Ryan Hinton, because that event has no statute of limitations.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
So for that cop, it doesn't end, does it?
Speaker 3 (15:18):
No, no, it doesn't end. I mean, these officers could
be retired. And when does it end? That is a fear.
I know it has not come to fruition.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
And, you know, Connie Pillich has indicated that she's not
going back and she's not looking at the stuff we're
moving forward. But to your point, that doesn't mean that
the next prosecutor that comes in decides.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
You know, maybe we're going to do this after all.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Right. No statute.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Yeah, it does become difficult to be a police officer
in 2026.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
About a minute remaining. Ken Cobra, head of the FOP.
Is there a sense that the thin blue line is
cracking down? Because you have massive amount of overtime, double time.
You're down about 500 cops. They got millions of dollars
for BS. They don't have money for law enforcement. You're
on the line every day. Is there a cop the
thin blue line has cracks in it?
Speaker 5 (16:06):
Yeah, these officers are strong as they've ever been. They're
getting tired. Don't get me wrong. But they understand that
there's a mission that has to be upheld. And that's
to go to work every day, make this city as
safe as it can, regardless of what is politically motivated,
what is not politically motivated. They know that they have
(16:27):
a job to do. They go out and they do
it every day. And we've seen it. We saw it
all summer.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Every event.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Every event that we had this summer, hundreds of officers working.
Riverfest was a perfect example. The FOP went down and
fed more than 200 cops, firefighters, federal.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Agents that were there and they were ready to do a.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
Job, regardless of the fact that they're tired. You know,
it's 85 degrees outside. The end of summer is near,
but they have 500,000, 600,000 people that they've got to
go out and protect so they can enjoy themselves. And
that's what these police officers do, not only in Cincinnati,
but in Hamilton County, around Ohio, around the United States.
They do it every day because that's the oath that
they swore, and they're going to continue to do it.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Ken Cobra, good luck. You need about 300, 400 more cops.
Hopefully the city will prioritize. And next time you see
your good friend Iris Rowley, tell her I said hello.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I will do my best. Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Thank you, Ken Cover, head of the FOP.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Let's continue with more news this next on your home
of the Reds and the Bengals, NewsRadio 700, WLW.
Hi, Billy Cunningham, The Great American. Welcome this Wednesday afternoon
to Tri-State, September 9th, getting ready for September 11th, which
is a 25th year commemoration of the terrorist attack on
our nation.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
9-11-01 is a date that will live in infamy. Coming
up later will be Sherry Few, who's going to talk
about the memorial there in New York City and what's
happening with the toxic air and what that means down
the road. But until then, Ken Cobra is the head
of the FOP. Also, Ken Cobra monitors, I'm sure, Reds
baseball kicking off tonight after six o'clock in L.A. And
(00:40):
the Reds have lost 10 games in a row in
Chavez Ravine. Got two more to go. We'll see what
happens down the road. But nonetheless, Ken Cobra, welcome again
to the Bill Cunningham Show. And Ken, are you following
Reds baseball? Are you watching the games and listening from
the left coast until about two o'clock in the morning?
I am.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I'm a fan regardless of what their record says. So, yes.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
They're in last place, but what the heck. You know, Ken,
all we have in life is hope. And I see
these stories that the Castellanians are going to sell the Reds.
And I see these stories that they now offered Dela
Cruz $ 700 million over about 12 years. Just pick the
number of years. $ 700 million. And assuming there's baseball next year,
which might be a bad assumption if there isn't, then
(01:20):
he has one more year here, which would be 2028.
And then after the 29 season, he's gone. Here's one
little kicker before we talk about police matters. He signed
a contract about six, seven years ago when he was
18 and a half years old, where he received $ 350, 000
from this company in Miami, $ 350, 000, which to an 18
(01:41):
and a half year old, that's all the money in
the world. But the exchange was that he had to
give this group 8% of his future earnings. So if
he signs a $ 700 million deal, my simple Deer Park
math tells me that's about $ 56 million he's got to
pay to this other group. Plus, he's making $ 800, 000 this year,
which means he's paying that group $ 64, 000.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
That's one hell of a deal.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So we hope Della Cruz understands what's going on.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Let's talk about police matters.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Number one, the last several days, you, as the head
of the FOP, Thousand Men and Women Strong, have been
detailed to Clifton. I've had four to five business owners
send me nasty emails saying, what are they doing? They're
killing my business. I've had students text me and saying,
this isn't a college life. In order to have shots
(02:30):
fired and to have police all around the campus as
I'm trying to go to English class, I have to
walk over some barricades. Then you have the parents that
are very unhappy with what's going on. First of all,
tell the American people why that is necessary. And secondly,
how long will it last?
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Well, I know right now it's temporary. I was actually
in UC's campus Saturday for a football game. Had a
great time.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
There were no problems.
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Yeah, there was a lot of police presence, which you
would think people would make them feel safer. Because like
I said, I certainly didn't have any problems there.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Actually, as I drove up to the campus, the streets
were open. But I get it.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Right now, it's a matter of we have got to
figure out how to get this violence under control. And unfortunately,
if the courts aren't going to help then the police
are going to have to do something just to try
to make it a safer environment, which is what they're doing.
I understand the frustration of businesses.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
I don't blame them. But we've got to find a
solution to this.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Well, one of the things I try to avoid is
high crime areas. I just don't think I need to
be shot at this point in my life. If you're
a business owner, a parent, or a student, is there
a reasonable fear that the UC campus is dangerous?
Speaker 5 (03:46):
Well, yeah, I mean, I think any time you're anywhere,
I mean, the city of Cincinnati has known that it
can be violent. I could tell you that especially when
there's large-scale events, especially when there's large-scale events, you see
that there's typically not a lot of problems. Riverfest went
off pretty much without a hitch this weekend. Like I said,
the UC games, I've been a season ticket holder there
(04:08):
for a couple of years, and I've never felt unsafe
being there. But then again, at two o'clock in the morning,
if you're leaving a party, you're a college kid and
you may have drank a little bit too much. Yeah,
there is certainly a propensity that you may become a victim.
It's a situation that you put yourself in. Unfortunately, that
can dictate whether that happens or not.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
You said a magical word, which was judges. There are
some judges like Judge Silverstein in municipal court that do
not permit police officers to sit in the jury box
waiting for their case to be called. And we can
talk about why that's necessary. But how much of a
problem in Cincinnati, Hamilton County are liberal judges, which we've
not had that problem to the last 10 years or so.
(04:50):
It used to be, if you committed a serious crime,
you got serious time. It used to be that if
you committed a crime as a juvenile, that's like murder, rape, robbery,
that kind of stuff. And you're 16, 17 years old,
you're bound over. That doesn't happen anymore. And so when
you say judges to what are you referring?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
No judges that are soft on crime.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
And unfortunately, somehow, in this county, law and order, public
safety has become a partisan issue.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Not really sure how.
Speaker 5 (05:20):
25 years ago, when I first started in this job,
it didn't matter what judge you.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Went in front of.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
You didn't even know as a young policeman who a
Republican or a Democrat judge was, it didn't matter. Because
if you went in front of them and the person
that was there was found guilty, they were held accountable.
That was just the reality of it. Now, and to
your point, now here we are in 2026 and it's like,
you got maybe a 50-50 chance of having a judge
(05:46):
that's going to support law and order at the courthouse.
And that's something that's extremely frustrating. It's extremely frustrating, not
only for officers, but for victims. Why am I going
to report a crime if I know that the likelihood.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Of this person actually being held accountable is very little?
That becomes a challenge.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
That's a point some of my so-called experts say is
that the crime is up, but reporting a crime is down.
And many times if you figure out, My car's been
broken into several times in Mount Adams or Mount Auburn
or any other communities in the Tri-State, including Northern Kentucky.
It's an insurance matter. And there was one night in
Mount Adams, I think it were 50 cars that were
(06:22):
broken into. And there was a, because of a flock camera,
there was a license plate of someone pulling away. But
all those individuals, those were 50 crimes. And I'm told
that hardly any of them reported it. Because after all,
they said it's an insurance matter. I'm not going to
do it. And so- But when I was a younger attorney,
let's say if you were in front of a Judge Fellerhoff,
(06:43):
a Judge Black, if you're in front of Judge Niehaus
or Judge Bettman, if you're in front of Judge Donilon,
all Democrats, by the way, they did not sentence significantly
different than the so-called Republican judges. And it was not partisan.
That is, if you did a serious thing, you're going away.
And now the assumption is if you do a serious thing,
(07:04):
you're not going away. In fact, you're going to be
in some diversion program or not convicted at all. And
you see it in room A, which is where people
go when they're first arrested. It used to be there
was 200 people in room A. Room A is where
you go the night after you're arrested and you're in handcuffs.
The judge sets a bond. Have you noticed a lack
of attendance of criminals in room A because they're not
(07:26):
getting arrested?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Sure, absolutely. I mean, that's a difficult thing.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
Where did we become a society where someone who breaks
into your car and steals things from you, and that
is a theft. When did that become that this is
just an insurance matter? That to me is insane. That
is nothing but justifying that the existence of low-level crimes
and at some point society saying, you know what? We
can live with cars getting broken into. Well, I'm not
(07:53):
okay with it. And as I just saw yesterday, I
guess the– guy that tried to rob Hollywood Casino out
in Dearborn County, got sentenced to 52 years in prison.
If that doesn't send a message to criminals, don't commit
crime in.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Dearborn County, I don't know what does.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Well, you can commit the same crime at the Hard
Rock Cafe, and you probably would be in a diversion program. Indiana,
I practice around the tri-state. Indiana is terrible when it
comes to criminal defense attorneys. Covington is terrible when it
comes to criminal defense attorneys. In fact, it's hard to appear.
You want to get your case in Hamilton County. That
(08:30):
was not that when you started as a cop 25,
30 years ago, was not the case. You wanted to
maneuver your case out of Claremont County, which is tough
and get that to Hamilton County.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
And just the opposite is true right now, right?
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, without a doubt.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
It's like everybody, they were like, hey, we're fine committing
crime in Hamilton County because we know that the judges
are going to be really soft on us if they're
going to do anything at all. So I'm not going
to go to Claremont County, Warren County.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I'm not going to go to Dearborn County, Boone or Campbell.
I'm not going to those.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Places because I know I'm going to get locked up
and they're going to keep me. And that's what does
drive crime in this county. That's what's– I don't understand
how they've not been able to figure this out. But
it continues to happen. And to your point, we'll see
what happens. There's a lot of judges' races in November.
There are a lot of law and order judges. that
(09:20):
either are on the.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Bench or want to get on the bench, and we'll
see what the voters say.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Judge Leah Dinkalocker is one who will sentence criminals to jail.
And in juvenile court, Judge Bloom, Carrie Bloom, is one
that will not send criminals to jail. And she's more
important in a sense because she's the presiding judge in
juvenile court, Hamilton County. All the juvenile cases are under
her auspices. Unlike in common police court or municipal court,
(09:45):
there's 14 or 16 judges that could be chopped up
one way or another. Let's go back 25 years when
you were a younger cop. What was your reaction to
about nine, 8 43 AM in the morning on nine
11 Oh one, where was Ken Cobra at that point?
Speaker 5 (10:01):
Ironically, I was on central parkway with a van of
city employees.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
We were going to help.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
There was a homicide that just occurred and they believe
the body was in a wooded area up in like
the Carthage Rose lawn area.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Uh, and we.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Get a phone call, Hey, um, the body's been found,
you guys are good, and we're driving back, and a
buddy of mine calls me, worked downtown at the time,
and is like, hey, do you see what's going on?
And we made it back to the police academy, which
is on Longworth Hall at the time, made it back
to there just in time to see the second plane
hit a tower, and it was just, it was a
memory that I'll never, never be able to forget, much,
(10:39):
much like many other people having to endure what has
come after that. It's Just it's a somber time and
it's a memory most of us don't want to remember,
but you can't ever get it out of your head.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
About 500 police officers and first responders were murdered. 25
years later, this is somewhat political. 25 years later, the
mayor of New York City is Mamdani. He signs a
proclamation and he passes the pen to someone who represented
Al-Qaeda terrorists. So we go from 9-11, New York City,
(11:12):
we're under attack, it's war, and we're going to have
our recompense, to 25 years later, New Yorkers elect an
Islamic extremist to be their mayor. Does that say something
about the journey that America has undertaken the past 25 years?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Sure it does.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
I wish we could go back to September 12, 2001,
when this country, regardless of political affiliations, regardless of anything,
We had Americans. We had everybody that was rooting for
this country. They were rooting for each other as we
were trying to figure out how to navigate through this tragedy.
And 25 years later, this is what we have, people
(11:51):
that are saying that the United States deserved this attack.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
It is insane.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
And these are people that they're trying to get elected
to represent people in the United States.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
It's absolutely crazy that something like this is even occurring.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
One other related issue, I noticed the mayor gave a
comment the other day about whether or not the killing
of Ryan Hinton was justified. To go back in time
a little bit, this began the process that resulted in
the murder of a deputy sheriff. Larry Henderson was murdered
by the father of Ryan Hinton, and the mayor, Eftab Piroval,
said he wasn't going to comment on whether it was
(12:26):
a justified shooting or not. The shooting's been cleared by
Connie Pillage, the county prosecutor. She said it was a
good a good shooting because he had a reasonable fear
of losing his life. So the unidentified police officer in
Cincinnati killed Ryan Hinton. They were only involved in stealing cars.
One of them came out of Edgewood, Kentucky. And I
know at that point, the county prosecutor in Kenton County,
(12:49):
Rob Sanders has a holder on one of the three
individuals who stole the car to make sure he didn't
come out of Kenton County. In fact, that individual was
hurt on a, you know, there's a big sign in
the Kenton County jail that says you're being recorded. He,
He gave a telephone call to a neighbor, a friend
of his in Hamilton County from Kenton County, and he
recorded a saying, Kenton County doesn't play. Kenton County doesn't play.
(13:12):
It was under a high bond. And the other ones
in Hamilton County, the other two boys, shall we say,
got little or no punishment. What is the feeling of
police when it's going to take months and months and
months for the mayor and the city manager to clear
the officer in Cincinnati who shot Ryan Hinton because of
Ryan Hinton's behavior?
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Well, it's frustrating.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
I mean, you can go to work every day, put
your life on the line, make the right decisions, and
still there is a fear of being politically prosecuted. That's
just the reality of this. That did not occur in
this case, thankfully. But, I mean, can you imagine the
weight on these officers' shoulders where they wait for months
to find out, am I going to get charged criminally?
(13:54):
How am I going to make sure that my family's fed?
How am I going to make sure that my kids
have a parent that's going to be there? Those are
things that weigh on officers, and it weighs on officers
to this day. Every day I get phone calls from
officers going, man, I am so tired of confronting these
juveniles because they're reckless. I would rather face an adult
with a firearm before a juvenile with a firearm because
(14:15):
I know that it is likely going to go bad
with these juveniles.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
And Ryan Hinton was in possession of a gun, and
he was, what, 17 years old, stealing, heisting cars all
over the tri-state. And a split-second decision had to be
made by that cop. And when you have a juvenile
with a gun, emotions are running high, testosterone is pumping,
he wants to extricate himself from the scene, and he
(14:41):
looks and sees a cop to his left. It would
take a half a second for him to have that
weapon out, which was in his hand at some point
because it was dropped and he picked it up again,
to kill that officer or to maim him for life.
Either way, and the officer made a split-second decision. And
I hate to inform you of this, but Connie Pillich
is the county prosecutor. If in the next election she
(15:02):
loses in the primary to someone more liberal than her,
it is not unusual for that county prosecutor, the new one,
to go back and say, we're going to prosecute that cop,
Ryan Hinton, because that event has no statute of limitations.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
So for that cop, it doesn't end, does it?
Speaker 3 (15:18):
No, no, it doesn't end. I mean, these officers could
be retired. And when does it end? That is a fear.
I know it has not come to fruition.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
And, you know, Connie Pillich has indicated that she's not
going back and she's not looking at the stuff we're
moving forward. But to your point, that doesn't mean that
the next prosecutor that comes in decides.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
You know, maybe we're going to do this after all.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Right. No statute.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Yeah, it does become difficult to be a police officer
in 2026.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
About a minute remaining. Ken Cobra, head of the FOP.
Is there a sense that the thin blue line is
cracking down? Because you have massive amount of overtime, double time.
You're down about 500 cops. They got millions of dollars
for BS. They don't have money for law enforcement. You're
on the line every day. Is there a cop the
thin blue line has cracks in it?
Speaker 5 (16:06):
Yeah, these officers are strong as they've ever been. They're
getting tired. Don't get me wrong. But they understand that
there's a mission that has to be upheld. And that's
to go to work every day, make this city as
safe as it can, regardless of what is politically motivated,
what is not politically motivated. They know that they have
(16:27):
a job to do. They go out and they do
it every day. And we've seen it. We saw it
all summer.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Every event.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Every event that we had this summer, hundreds of officers working.
Riverfest was a perfect example. The FOP went down and
fed more than 200 cops, firefighters, federal.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Agents that were there and they were ready to do a.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
Job, regardless of the fact that they're tired. You know,
it's 85 degrees outside. The end of summer is near,
but they have 500,000, 600,000 people that they've got to
go out and protect so they can enjoy themselves. And
that's what these police officers do, not only in Cincinnati,
but in Hamilton County, around Ohio, around the United States.
They do it every day because that's the oath that
they swore, and they're going to continue to do it.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Ken Cobra, good luck. You need about 300, 400 more cops.
Hopefully the city will prioritize. And next time you see
your good friend Iris Rowley, tell her I said hello.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I will do my best. Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Thank you, Ken Cover, head of the FOP.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Let's continue with more news this next on your home
of the Reds and the Bengals, NewsRadio 700, WLW.
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