The mayor of Norwood, Ohio, wrote that “police officers across the country are under attack by race-baiting black leaders and cowardly elected officials” in a letter to the city’s police officers made public Wednesday
Mayor Thomas Williams wrote the letter on Dec. 22, just days after two New York City police officers were ambushed and killed while sitting in their patrol car. The killings followed months of protests throughout the nation over the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers.
Williams said the Norwood Police Department has “always performed its duties in an exemplary fashion and held its high standard of conduct without any outside influence.” He added that if “God forbid, something controversial would happen, I WILL NOT ABANDON YOU.”
The Norwood Police Department is no stranger to controversy. An officer was forced to resign in November of 2012 after being videotaped inside the police station hurling a woman against a wall, Cincinnati television station WXIX reported. That same officer was sued for police brutality by another individual the following year, according to WXIX.
Read the letter below:
With recent events across the country, I feel compelled to express my thoughts in writing as police officers across the country are under attack by race-baiting black leaders and cowardly elected officials.
As you know, Norwood, in the past, has been portrayed in a negative fashion by some. The Norwood Police Department has always performed its duties in an exemplary fashion and held its high standard of conduct without any outside influence.
As always, now is the time to be extra cautious while performing your duties. Back each other and take nothing for granted.
Let it be known that, God forbid, something controversial would happen, I WILL NOT ABANDON YOU. As I have always said, your number one goal is to go home to your family at the end of your shift.
God Watch Over The Norwood Police Department.
Fraternally yours,
Thomas F. Williams, Mayor, City of Norwood
h/t Raw Story.
Screengrab via WXIX.
