Twenty-four members of the Cincinnati Police Department will be promoted in a ceremony at 11:00 a.m. Thursday July 26 in the North Meeting Room of the Duke Convention Center, 525 Elm Street. Chief Thomas H. Streicher, Jr. will preside and administer the oath of office to the following 16 Sergeants and 8 Specialists:
Sergeant Dennis Swingley is a graduate of Anderson High School, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of Cincinnati. He retired at the rank of sergeant after 20 years of service with the Ohio National Guard. In July 1996 he entered the Police Academy’s 82nd Recruit Class. His first assignment upon graduation was on patrol in District Two, and he also served in District One. Since 2001 he has worked in the Criminal Investigation Section’s Major Offenders Unit. Sergeant Swingley and his wife live in Anderson Township.
Sergeant Jay Johnstone is a graduate of New Richmond High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree at Xavier University. In January 1998 he entered the Police Academy’s 85th Recruit Class. At graduation in June of that year he was the class valedictorian. His first assignment was on patrol in District Five. Since 2006 he has worked in the Recruiting Unit. Sergeant Johnstone lives in Newtown with his wife and their two children.
Sergeant David Damico is a graduate of Elder High School. He served five years on active duty with the U.S. Air Force and another two years in the Reserve before entering the 84th Recruit Class at the Police Academy in July 1997. Upon graduation, he was assigned to patrol in District Two. Since October 2002 he has been assigned to Mounted Patrol. Sergeant Damico lives in Green Township with his wife and their three children.
Sergeant Jeffrey Howell is a graduate of Roger Bacon High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business management at the University of Cincinnati. He served 20 years – 11 of them on active duty -- with the Ohio Army National Guard, and retired in 2002 from the service. In July 1996 he entered the Police Academy’s 82nd Recruit Class. He was assigned to patrol in District Five upon graduation. His career to date has been served in District Five: In 2002 he became a member of the District’s Violent Crimes Squad, and since 2005 he has been assigned to the District Five Investigative Unit. Sergeant Howell makes his home in Wyoming with his wife and their three children.
Sergeant Ronald Childress is a graduate of Walnut Hills High School, and he continued his studies at the Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati. In April 1995 he became a member of the Police Academy’s 80th Recruit Class. Upon graduation, his first assignment was on patrol in District Four. He also worked in District Two for ten years, until October 2006 when he was transferred to the Vortex Unit of District One. His father is retired Cincinnati Detective James P. Childress. Sergeant Childress and his wife have two sons.
Sergeant Michael Barge is a graduate of North College Hill High School, and he studied criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army who served with the Military Police in Panama. In July 1999 he became a member of the 88th Recruit Class. Upon graduation he was assigned to patrol in District Two, where he later worked as a bike patrol officer and then on the Violent Crimes Squad. In 2006 he transferred to District Five.
Sergeant William Hahn is a graduate of Bellbrook High School in Bellbrook, Ohio. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and psychology at the University of Dayton. He entered the Police Academy’s 83rd Recruit Class in January 1997. Upon graduation he was assigned to District Three, where he worked until February 2007, when he was transferred to Mounted Patrol in District One’s Downtown Services Unit. Sergeant Hahn lives in Mt. Washington with his wife and their son.
Sergeant Jason Scott is a graduate of Mountain State High School in Pennsboro, West Virginia, and he studied criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati. He has served in the U.S. Marine Corps, both on active duty and in the Reserve. In January 1997 he became a member of the 83rd Recruit Class. Upon graduation in June of that year, he was assigned to Patrol in District Three. In January 2005 he was promoted to the rank of Specialist and remained in District Three. He transferred to the Vortex Unit of District One in October 2006.
Sergeant Craig Gregoire is a graduate of Anderson High School and he attended the University of Cincinnati. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy who served in the Persian Gulf. In January 1998 he entered the Police Academy’s 85th Recruit Class. His first assignment upon graduation was on patrol in District Four. He also served in District Two before transferring to his current assignment in the Criminal Investigation Section’s Personal Crimes Unit. In 2001 he was awarded the Cincinnati
Police Department’s Personal Sacrifice Citation to honor those wounded by gunfire as a result of the criminal action of another. Sergeant Gregoire is the son of District Two commander Captain Stephen Gregoire. He resides in Mt. Washington.
Sergeant Denica LeeSummers is a graduate of Aiken High School, and she earned an associate degree at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. She entered the Police Academy’s 79th Recruit Class in June 1994. Upon graduation, her first assignment was on patrol in District Four. In 1996 she transferred to District Two. Since 2001 she has worked in District Two’s Investigative Unit handling domestic violence cases.
Sergeant Matthew Hammer is a graduate of Nordonia High School in Macedonia, Ohio, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at the University of Dayton. In July 1999 he entered the Police Academy’s 88th Recruit Class. Upon graduation in December of that year he was assigned to patrol in District One. In 2003 he became a member of District One’s Violent Crimes Squad, where he has continued to work until the present.
Sergeant Michael Whitis is a graduate of Norwood High School. He became a member of the Police Academy’s 93rd Recruit Class in August 2002. His first assignment upon graduation in February 2003 was on patrol in District Four. In January 2006 he transferred to his present assignment in District Two. Sergeant Whitis lives on Cincinnati’s west side with his wife and their two children.
Sergeant Aaron Jones is a graduate of Purcell Marian High School. H earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at Xavier University, where he is currently completing requirements for a master’s degree. In July 1998 he entered the 86th Recruit Class at the Police Academy. His first assignment upon graduation was on patrol in District Two, where he later became a member of the Violent Crimes Squad. Since March 2003 he has worked in the Vice Section. His father is former Cincinnati Police Officer Willie Ray Jones. Sergeant Jones and his wife await the arrival of their first child in just a few weeks. They make their home in Fairfax.
Sergeant Eric Sierra is a graduate of Providence High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, and he studied at the University of Cincinnati. In January 2000 he entered the Police Academy’s 89th Recruit Class. His first assignment upon graduation was on patrol in District One. He transferred to District Five, where he worked on patrol and in the Violent Crimes Squad. Since March 2005, he has served in the Vice Section. He is the nephew of retired Cincinnati Sergeant Mark Hasenohr. Sergeant Sierra and his wife make their home in Harrison with their daughter and await the arrival of twins in the New Year.
Sergeant Kara Graves is a graduate of Woodward High School. In January 1999 she entered the 87th Recruit Class at the Police Academy. Upon graduation in June 1999, she was assigned to patrol in District One. She transferred to District Three in November 2000, and she has worked in that district up to the present time.
Sergeant Michael Miller is a graduate of North West High School, and he studied criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati. In February 1993 he entered the 77th Recruit Class at the Police Academy. Upon graduation he was assigned to patrol in District Five. He also served in District One and in the Vice Section before transferring to the Criminal Investigation Section, where he worked in the Personal Crimes Unit and, since 2003, in the Homicide Unit. Many of his family members have chosen careers in law enforcement: His father, Officer Ron Miller, retired last year after more than 39 years of service with this department. His cousins, Officer Philip Waddle, Specialist Steve Lawson, and Officer Spencer Henderson are all serving with the CPD; and his cousin Patrol Officer Tracy Karnes serves in the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department. Sergeant Miller and his wife live in Harrison with their two children.
Specialist John Hudson is a graduate of Preble Shawnee High School in Camden, Ohio, and he earned a bachelor’s degree at Shawnee State University. He entered the Police Academy’s 88th Recruit Class in July 1999. His first assignment upon graduation was on patrol in District Two, where he later worked in the Violent Crimes Squad. Since March 2004 Specialist Hudson has worked in the Vice Section. He and his wife are the parents of two children, and they make their home in Harrison.
Specialist Robert Uhlenbrock is a graduate of Glen Este High School, and he earned an associate degree at the University of Cincinnati. In July 1996 he was appointed to the Police Academy’s 82nd Recruit Class. Upon graduation in December 1996 he began to work on patrol in District Five. In 2000 he transferred to Mounted Patrol. Since 2001 he has been assigned to the Traffic Unit. Specialist Uhlenbrock has been a nationally accredited Traffic Crash Reconstructionist since 2002. Specialist Uhlenbrock and his wife live in Anderson Township with their son.
Specialist Daniel Taylor is a graduate of Union County High School in Liberty, Indiana, and he earned a bachelor’s degree at Indiana State University. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. In April 1995 he entered the 80th Recruit Class of the Police Academy. Upon graduation, he was assigned to patrol in District Two. Since October 1996 he has worked in District Three. Two of his cousins have retired after careers in law enforcement: one with the Kentucky State Police, and one with the Hammond, Louisiana, Police Department. Specialist Taylor lives in Harrison.
Specialist Kathleen Gober is a graduate of Eastlake North High School in Eastlake, Ohio. She served four years with the U.S. Air Force at bases in Utah and in Spain prior to entering the Police Academy’s 80th Recruit Class in April 1995. Upon graduation, she was assigned to patrol in District Four. Specialist Gober later transferred to District One before moving to her current assignment in the Vice Section. She is a member of the department’s Honor Guard. Family members in law enforcement include her father, retired Police Officer Joseph Ferenczy of the Beechwood, Ohio, Police Department, and her brother-in-law, Corporal Paul Rypinski of the Shaker Heights, Ohio, Police Department. Specialist Gober is married to Specialist Al Gober, who works in District One. They have three daughters.
Specialist Douglas Snider is a graduate of Oak Hills High School, and he earned a bachelor’s degree at the College of Mount St. Joseph. In August 2002 he entered the Police Academy’s 93rd Recruit Class. His first assignment upon graduation was on patrol in District Three. He has also worked in District One. Since October 2006, Specialist Snider has been a member of the Vortex Unit.
Specialist Stephen Lawson is a graduate of Mount Healthy High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Ohio University. In January 1999 he was appointed to the Police Academy’s 87th Recruit Class. His first assignment upon graduation in June of that year was on patrol in District Five. He transferred to his present assignment in the Traffic Unit in December 2003. His father Jim Lawson retired twice after serving the CPD in two capacities: first after a career as a sworn officer attaining the rank of Specialist, and then after a second career as a Criminalist with the department. Specialist Lawson and his wife live in Harrison with their three children.
Specialist Kimberly Schmidt is a graduate of Oak Hills High School. She earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati. She was appointed to the Police Academy’s 88th Recruit Class in July 1999 and was class valedictorian at graduation in December of that year. Her first assignment was on patrol in District Three, where she continues to serve at this time. Specialist Schmidt and her son make their home in Delhi.
Specialist Jerry Turner is a graduate of Scott High School in Taylor Mill, Kentucky. He studied criminal justice at Northern Kentucky University and at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. He served eight years in the U.S. Army with postings in Georgia and in Korea, and six years in the Army National Guard. In August 2001 he entered the 91st Recruit Class at the Police Academy, but his training was interrupted when he was recalled to active military duty in October 2001. He returned from active duty and completed his training in July 2002, when he was assigned to patrol in District Four. He was recalled to active military duty twice more in 2003 and 2005, and he continues to serve in District Four. Specialist Turner and his wife live in Anderson Township with their son.
