The police union in West Chester Twp. spoke out publicly Friday in response to comments made by a township trustee about a settlement reached after a bar brawl last summer.

Trustees George Lang, Catherine Stoker and Lee Wong approved a settlement agreement Dec. 4, 2012, of $265,000 to be paid to Jeremy M. Lewis, 30, of Blanchester, according to a copy of the agreement. Surveillance video from the early hours of May 6, 2012, show the alleged beating of Lewis by West Chester Police officers who were responding to a bar fight at Win, Place or Show Sports Bar and Grill on Cincinnati-Columbus Road.

In a Hamilton JournalNews article Feb. 14, Lang said the township would not have had a good case in defending the actions of police Officers Gary Gabbard, Paul Lovell and Randy Farris, who were involved in the arrest. Lang also said he didn’t agree with the results of an internal investigation that cleared the officers of any wrongdoing.

“The uninformed comments by Trustee Lang regarding the police action taken in response to this dispatch has tarnished the outstanding image of the West Chester Twp. Police Department and attacked the character of the officers involved in this response,” the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 186 said in a statement Friday night.

Officer Michael Veeneman, a union representative, said the FOP’s executive board contacted its attorney after seven other union members said they wanted to respond to Lang’s comments. The statement released Friday was written by Attorney Susan Jansen and includes the collective feeling of the 89-member union, according to Veeneman.

Lang on Saturday responded to the union statement while in Washington, D.C.

“My opinion was not uninformed,” Lang said. “I met with Sgt. (Chris) Whitton and Chief (Erik) Niehaus for countless hours reviewing (the incident and investigation). My opinion is backed up by the fact the grand jury refused to indict.”

A Butler County grand jury on June 27, 2012, announced its decision not to indict Lewis on three counts of assault, obstructing official business and resisting arrest, according to Butler County court documents.

All three trustees were in agreement that settling the case before it reached a lawsuit was in the best interest of the township.

The FOP statement also said members of the police department, “certainly trust that Mr. Lang is not basing his comments about the May 6, 2012 incident on personal, lingering ill feelings towards the police department.”

In response, Lang said, “I’ve been very supportive of the police department in my 10 years on the board. I have nothing but love and respect for the men and women that put their lives on the line everyday.”

Lang said he would like to see a citizen review committee formed of local residents and business owners, so that people who feel they’ve been mistreated by the West Chester Police Department can have another avenue to turn to. He also suggested the township consider the purchase of police cruiser cameras — to capture audio and video during arrests.