A Preble County police chief and an officer are on administrative leave after they visited several Cincinnati Public Schools claiming they were working for ICE.
Village of Gratis officials placed Chief Tonina Lamanna and Officer Jeffrey Baylor leave after an executive session with Gratis Village Council on April 19.
WVXU reported the two visited several Cincinnati public schools on April 15 to conduct "wellness checks" on several students in the district.
Cincinnati public schools district Superintendent Shauna Murphy said the two tried to enter two elementary schools and one high school on Cincinnati’s west side. School officials denied them entry. They later claimed that they were working for ICE.
Village administrators said that they became aware of the chief and officer’s action after they were informed by other law enforcement agencies.
The statement said that, “The Village of Gratis does not condone these actions. It is not the practice of policy of the Village to participate in law enforcement operations outside of our jurisdiction, particularly those occurring two counties away.”
Gratis is in southeastern Preble County between Camden and Germantown.
