CINCINNATI — Two days after Cincinnati police officer Christopher Schroder agreed to a plea deal, Hamilton County prosecutor Mark Piepmeier announced that a lengthy investigation into his actions had been completed.

What You Need To Know

  • Cincinnati police officer Christopher Schroder was investigated for allegedly mishandling sexual assault cases

  • The investigation went back to 2007 and found problems with 47 of his cases

  • Schroder will plead guilty to dereliction of duty and resign his position

  • In a related move, CPD will institute several new policies for the Personal Crimes Unit

Schroder has agreed to plead guilty to five misdemeanor counts of dereliction of duty in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court on Jan. 18 in relation to his mishandling of sexual assault cases. He'll resign his position and forfeit his Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy certification, which will make him ineligible to work as a police officer in Ohio again.

In the investigation, Piepmeier appointed special investigators Anne Flanagan, a retired Hamilton County assistant prosecutor, and Jane Noel, a former CPD investigator who spent 17 years in the Personal Crimes Unit, to review all of Schroder's case files dating back to 2007. The investigation was in response to a voluntary self audit of the Personal Crimes Unit by the Cincinnati Police Department.

The pair reviewed 865 cases and found significant problems with 47 of the cases, including failure to investigate underage pregnancies adequately, cases with no investigation at all, delays in submitting rape kits and failure to submit DNA samples, among other issues.

“I am thankful to the Cincinnati Police Department for identifying this problem and cooperating with our special investigators," said Piepmeier. "I also want to thank Governor Mike DeWine for providing this office with the resources to ensure a full and thorough investigation was completed."

"As a result of this investigation, specific issues with both Officer Schroder and the Personal Crimes Unit were identified. Chief Theetge has taken the necessary steps to ensure something like this never happens again.”

Some of the cases were referred back to CPD for further investigation and Flanagan and Noel also made policy change recommendations to CPD. 

Per Piepmeier's news release, the following seven changes were immediately implemented:

  • In the past, one personal crimes investigator was assigned to each case. Moving forward there will be a team of investigators assigned to each case, made up of one lead investigator and two additional investigators for an added layer of oversight

  • Checklists will be used to ensure every step of investigations are being followed, allowing supervisors to easily track case progress at any point in the investigation

  • Quarterly audits will occur on all active Personal Crimes’ cases

  • Monthly updates to the Chief (or designee) regarding all Personal Crimes’ cases

  • Dual-supervisor review of cases will be required

  • Implementation of a Personal Crimes training program

  • Implementation of a rape kit tracking process

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