The Whitehall Division of Police launched a criminal investigation into Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge President Brian Steel last year after he allegedly put a bumper sticker on a vehicle driven by Van Gregg, the director of the Whitehall Department of Public Safety.
A criminal investigatory report given to WOSU by the city of Whitehall said the investigation into the alleged vandalism prompted Steel to confront Gregg at an event in Columbus last year. This lead to another potential charge for intimidating a crime victim being levied against Steel.
A video sent to WOSU from the city shows a man in a police officer’s uniform appearing to bend down in front of a vehicle and place something on the back of it before getting up to take a photo. It is unclear if the person in the video is Steel, as Whitehall police allege.
Whitehall Division of Police Chief Mike Crispen told WOSU his office submitted their findings to the Whitehall City Attorney, but no charges have been filed yet. City Attorney Brad Nicodemus told WOSU in an email that the city would not be pursuing charges.
“I have considered this closed for a while now,” Nicodemus said.
According to the police report, Steel allegedly placed the bumper sticker on Gregg’s car at a memorial for a fallen police officer in August.
The report said Steel allegedly approached Gregg and his wife during an event at a Clintonville church in September. The report alleged Steel intimidated Gregg by asking the safety director about the charges. The report said Steel was holding a baby in his arms during the interaction.
Crispen said Steel's actions are “par for the course” with how Steel and the FOP operate. He said Gregg’s family is probably concerned because of the amount of authority and influence Steel wields.
“This is a guy who is willing to spend thousands of dollars to fly planes or in his words, 'run horses up and down our streets and whatever it takes,' acting as if he’d burn the city down if that’s what it takes to get his way,” Crispen said.
Steel told WOSU he doesn’t believe he has committed a crime. Steel declined to say whether he committed these actions because he is under criminal investigation.
Steel is alleging corruption at the Whitehall Division of Police.
“The corruption in Whitehall is very well known, and not only to central Ohio in the state by their leadership. So I'm not surprised that this is continuing to get out. And there's more and more people online that are making negative comments to the Whitehall Police Department,” Steel said.
Crispen’s office alerted WOSU it was investigating Steel in a press release issued Thursday, regarding allegations leveled at a Whitehall police officer via a Columbus police officer’s YouTube channel. Whitehall police accused Steel of orchestrating these accusations.
This squabble between Whitehall police and the FOP has raged since the city fired Officer Enrique Ortega in July of last year. Ortega was the union’s grievance officer at the time and had just conducted a survey whose results were critical of the police department and Crispen.
The bumper sticker Steel allegedly placed on Gregg’s car read “I SUPPORT OFFICER ORTEGA.” The police report said other stickers with this same statement were placed on public property around Whitehall.
The FOP and Whitehall City Councilmember Gerald Dixon tried to initiate an investigation into the police department, but Dixon’s motion failed last year with a 6-1 vote. Whitehall Mayor Michael Bivens also declined to investigate the department shortly after Ortega was fired.
Since then, the FOP and Steel haven’t shied away from being critical of Crispen and the city. Steel appeared on WOSU’s All Sides with Amy Juravich on Jan. 17 to talk about the state’s plan to increase fees for public records requests, and chose to use the radio appearance to criticize Whitehall claiming corruption and a risk to abuse this law.
Crispen and Steel have opposing views about how the dispute can be solved.
Crispen said he thinks the FOP needs to be more professional as a union. “(The FOP) needs to stay in their lane and do what…they’re supposed to do,” Crispen said.
Crispen also said the FOP members have stated Crispen needs to resign.
“Steel can make this stop right away. I’m not the one pulling the trigger on this,” Crispen said. “We’re over here trying to keep people safe.”
Steel said the FOP’s concerns could have been solved with an investigation, which the city declined to conduct. Steel said he still believes a third party investigation should be conducted.
“The FOP is always willing to sit down and talk about this to date. Not one time has the chief or the mayor or council or anybody involved been willing to sit down and talk about it,” Steel said.
Steel did not say whether Crispen or others should resign or be fired.
