TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo Police Patrolman's Association released a letter Wednesday, saying officers are concerned about the hiring of JoJuan Armour as the coordinator of a program designed to reduce gun violence in Toledo and citing a previous criminal record.
Armour's hire was announced by Toledo Mayor Wade Kapzukiewicz, with several community members, council people and even Toledo Police Chief George Kral in attendance.
The letter expressed concern about Armour's record, saying some of the officers who handled his cases are still on the force.
The letter reads in part:
"Although this is an outstanding story of personal perseverance and showing no ill will towards him as a person, Mr. Armour's past is still troubling."
That letter goes on to state that TPPA was brought into the hiring process late.
Armour already addressed his record during his first day on the job, saying, "I've had the fortunate opportunity to learn from my experiences."
Friday afternoon, the local NAACP chapter came out with their own statement addressing the TPPA letter. While it acknowledged that the city could've communicated better, it also stated:
"We are calling on the city including the police department and its unions to look at a much bigger picture and that is young people are dying in our community."
The group also said that bringing up Armour's history is "absurd" when the police union has supported candidates for public office with criminal records in the past.
Armour has only been in his role for three days. He said he plans to spend the first 90 days getting to know the community and find Toledoans to work as community violence interrupters.
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