CINCINNATI (WXIX) – “Wellness checks” on Cincinnati Public Schools students is why a police chief claiming to be with Immigration and Customs Enforcement drove more than an hour to Cincinnati on Wednesday, CPS Superintendent Shauna Murphy explained.
The superintendent said one officer and Tonina Lamanna, the chief of police for Gratis, a village between Oxford and Dayton, went to three different schools: Rees E. Price Academy, Roberts Academy and Western Hills University High School, according to Murphy.
Murphy said Lamanna arrived at the Cincinnati schools in a marked police vehicle and in uniform.
The chief and officer did not have ICE identifications or lettering on their uniforms, Murphy explained.
Despite that, the Gratis police chief proclaimed to be an ICE agent, the superintendent said. Murphy could not confirm if the chief is in fact an ICE agent, deferring the answer to that question to Cincinnati leaders.
With no warrants or paperwork, Lamanna and the unidentified officer did not get access to CPS students, according to the superintendent.
Murphy said there is no question she views what happened at the three schools on Wednesday as a “threat.”
Mayor, sheriff respond
Mayor Aftab Pureval echoed Murphy’s sentiment, calling Chief Lamanna’s actions “incomprehensible.”
“As a CPS parent, I am disgusted by the incomprehensible actions of the Gratis Police Chief,” Mayor Pureval emphasized. “It is patently ridiculous and inexcusable that a police chief from a small town an hour from here would come into our City’s public schools unannounced, let alone do so allegedly at ICE’s request, to intimidate our children and their families. Stay out of Cincinnati.”
Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey released a statement, saying, “I am very aware of the incident that occurred yesterday at Cincinnati Public Schools, and the concerns around that type of attempted federal enforcement. I am communicating with federal and state partners to ensure that guidelines and policies are followed. I am working in collaboration with Cincinnati Police to monitor and identify current ICE policies and/or actions.”
Lamanna has talked with CPS General Council Daniel Hoying since what unfolded Wednesday.
Hoying said the Gratis police chief told him she would not be doing checks at Cincinnati schools anymore.
Federal agreement
The Gratis Police Department has a formal agreement to work with ICE.
A Memorandum of Agreement between ICE and the police department, signed by Lamanna on Oct. 23, 2025, allows ICE to delegate limited immigration enforcement authority to trained officers of Gratis PD.
That authority must be within the department’s jurisdiction, the agreement states.
The signed federal agreement defines the jurisdiction that Gratis PD holds, meaning the authorized immigration enforcement activities are limited to the geographic jurisdiction the department already holds.
FOX19 NOW has reached out to Chief Lamanna for comment. She has not responded.
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