DOWNTOWN - Cincinnati Police Chief James Craig said he made the call not to cite Occupy Cincinnati protesters for being in Piatt Park after hours Thursday even though police cited them the previous four nights.
Craig today offered vague reasons, saying the decision was reached based on review of how other cities and police departments are handling similar protests around the country and that police have discretion to issue citations or verbal warnings.
He would not say what might happen tonight, but said he has mounting concern about sanitation issues and complaints from other citizens who say they cannot use the park while protesters are there, including some who have paid for permits to use the park in the near future.
"They claim they're in it for the long haul," Craig said of the protesters. "I am very concerned about impact on the business community ... We may have to take another plan of action, sooner than later."
Councilman Chris Bortz, a lawyer, had asked Craig this afternoon in an email to "please explain the legal reasons" for his decision.
Bortz said the city opened itself up to accusations of selective law enforcement.
"It has to be done uniformly," Bortz said. "It creates a problem not for this group of protesters, necessarily, but certainly for the next group. They could argue selective enforcement.
"I think we've made a mistake and I want to know why."
Other Cincinnati officials wouldn't publicly discuss the reasons for not issuing citations at the 10 p.m. closing time Thursday night.
"We have been monitoring what's happening nationally," said Meg Olberding, spokeswoman for City Manager Milton Dohoney. "Lots of cities are dealing with this. We are talking with them, too."
• Photos: The Occupy Cincinnati protest • Poll: Should protesters be allowed to stay in Piatt Park?
"Some people want to be arrested and some people don't," she said. "So it makes it an interesting situation to monitor."
Mayor Mark Mallory "did not issue any order saying that the Occupy Cincinnati folks should not be ticketed," said his public affairs director, Jason Barron.
Protesters sent out a press release Thursday night thanking the mayor for the lack of citations. Some protesters said Capt. Doug Wiesman, commander of police District 1, told them that Mallory ordered the no-citing.
Olberding said she didn't know why Capt. Wiesman might have thought the mayor issued such an order. Decisions about the police department, she said, are made by Craig and Dohoney.
"We've had good dialogue with (the protesters)," she said. "And we continue to have good dialogue with them."
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