TOLEDO, Ohio — In response to two Toledo police officers violating department policy during a January traffic stop, Toledo City Council members raised impassioned community and personal concerns on Tuesday about the possible escalation of violence during interactions between police officers and community members.
Officers Ashlyn Pluff and Adam Hobbs received the following discipline for their conduct violations during the incident after self-reporting by the Toledo Police Department led to an internal investigation:
Officer Adam Hobbs
Charge 1 (Unnecessary Use of Physical Control Techniques): 20-day workday suspension (10 with pay, 10 without pay). Held in abeyance for three years.
Charge 2 (Demeanor): verbal reprimand
Officer Ashlyn Pluff
Charge 1 (Demeanor): 1 workday suspension (0 without pay). Held in abeyance for three years.
Dash and body camera video of the traffic stop saw Pluff and Hobbs, who are both white, use strong physical force while arresting two women, both of whom are Black, the officers pulled over and accused of reckless driving.
"If they were two young white women, this would not have happened," council member Vanice Williams said at Tuesday's meeting.
Council member Tiffany Whitman said community members she has spoken to fear they could have similarly violent experiences with officers that could result in injuries or even death.
Whitman said council has always been supportive of TPD when officers act honorably and in accordance with standards and establish strong bonds with community members and organizations. But when a situation, like the traffic stop, escalates to conduct violations and strikes fear in a community, she said accountability is necessary.
"We have to make it clear that this is not acceptable in our city at all, in any kind of way," Whitman said over the phone Tuesday.
Council members Cerssandra McPherson and Williams also admonished the actions of Pluff and Hobbs on behalf of how it represented Toledo and its police department. They said the violence of the arrest makes them fear it happening to other community members or even their own children.
Williams called the traffic stop "disgusting" and said it alarms her that she has to tell her daughter to keep Williams' card and a picture of the two of them in her car in case she gets pulled over by police who "try to exert their power over her."
"That shouldn't be so," Williams said at the council meeting. "The actions of [Pluff and Hobbs] do not represent where we have been moving. TPD has been making strides to be better and this has taken them 20 steps back."
McPherson said the incident has similarly undone progress made to improve relationships between police and community members.
"Our young people are dying and then they see something like this on TV, and what do you think they feel? They feel like they don't have a chance," McPherson said.
Those fears could manifest in more community members carrying weapons too, she said.
"If this could happen to those two girls … now we will have young men riding around packing (weapons) in fear that it may be them," McPherson said. "Things like this, because we, African Americans, have dealt with this so often, we get on the defense. When that happens, follow what happens next."
The suspensions -- 10 days with pay and 10 days without pay for Hobbs and one day without pay for Pluff -- were inappropriately light given their aggression during the New Year's Day traffic stop on top of both officers having been disciplined for prior incidents in their careers, Whitman said.
She said the aggression displayed by the officers and how they escalated the situation warranted harsher punishment to "prevent further harm."
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz also said the traffic stop was escalated based on how the interaction began.
"When they approached the car, there was not a spirit of de-escalation," Kaspzukiewicz said. "There appeared to be a spirit of confrontation. Everything bad that happened after that can be traced to the confrontational approach of the officers."
The mayor agreed that the conduct of the stop warranted discipline and suspension, but that the suspensions themselves were sufficient.
Kapszukiewicz emphasized TPD holding itself accountable and self-reporting the incident as representative of department leaders not wanting to brush an issue under the rug.
"They didn't try to hide it, didn't try to cover up," he said. "That is a refreshing commitment to transparency."
Both Pluff and Hobbs have had at least two previous reprimands by TPD.
Pluff's first reprimand occurred after her involvement in the July 2022 arrest of Olympic boxer Oshae Jones, were she was admonished for her "demeanor," cited for yelling at a mother and child during the arrest, and throwing multiple profanities at Jones. Also, in body camera footage from the arrest, she could also be seen hitting Jones in the back of the head while Jones was cuffed, which officers said was justified because Jones was resisting arrest.
Pluff was reprimanded again for a February 2023 incident where she was again admonished for yelling during an arrest and using profanity.
Hobbs' first two reprimands occurred Feb. 19, 2022, when he was responding to a suspicious persons call. He encountered the suspect, who had multiple active warrants, but following the search he turned off his body camera and let the suspect go free.
The Internal Affairs report notes Hobbs failed to complete a thorough investigation. The caller was never contacted, no police report was filed and Hobbs chose to release the suspect, which the IA report called a poor use of discretion.
He was reprimanded for "neglect of duty" and "recording incidents."
Hobbs' most recent reprimand occurred on Sept. 30, when he was the second vehicle in pursuit of a suspect. Hobbs had to drop out of the chase but re-joined later as the third vehicle. He was reprimanded for pursuit caravanning.
Whitman said concerns about police aggression and possible solutions to prevent situations from escalating to further violence will be addressed when the biannual crime reduction report is presented at council's next public safety and criminal justice reform committee meeting on May 23, which TPD Chief Michael Troendle will be at.
"It's going to be an opportunity for us to understand what's going to happen beyond this," Whitman said.
Troendle also released a statement on the traffic stop:
"When I became chief of police, I assured the men and women of the Toledo Police Department that as long as they did their job the right way, I would support them fully," Troendle said. "However, I also made it clear that those officers who fail to meet the high expectations set by both our department, and the residents of this city, would be held accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, the actions of two officers who conducted a traffic stop on Jan. 1, 2023, failed to meet those high expectations."