Cincinnati riots of 2001

Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio experienced the worst rioting (often referred to as revolts by supporters and sympathizers) from April 10, 2001 through April 12, 2001 since the 1960's. It was an unorganized and violent reaction to the death of a young unarmed black male, Timothy Thomas, in the early morning hours of April 8, 2001 during an on-foot pursuit by several officers. Officer Steven Roach was the officer who killed Thomas when alone with the suspect in an alley out of the view of any other witnesses.

The riots took place throughout the downtown center of Cincinnati. There were a few smaller riots throughout Greater Cincinnati during that time, but their effects were negligible in property damage and injury. The damage from the riots was estimated in the millions. Millions more were lost due to the ensuing protests and boycotts of the city. No deaths were reported as a result of the riots.

Background of tensions

Between February, 1995 and April, 2001 15 black males under the age of 40 were killed during confrontations with police or in police custody while no whites were killed in that same time period. In one case the police involved were reprimanded and given extra training (Death of Michael Carpenter by Officers Michael Miller III, and Brent McCurley). In all other cases none of the police were ever found guilty of any criminal charges regarding their actions in the incident. However, internal investigations often found the officers at fault creating a perceivable divergence in expectations of police conduct.

Roger Owensby Jr. died November 7, 2000 while in custody of the police. The charges of manslaughter and misdemeanor assualt were filed against the officers Jorg and Canton January 3, 2001. A group filed a federal lawsuit, filed March 14, 2001, on behalf of the many black men that had died since 1995 alleging racial profiling.

While the city was embroiled in emotional discussions about racial tensions and police conduct regarding these incidents, Timothy Thomas was killed.

Aftermath

On the third night of riots the city issued a curfew which was accompanied by rain and the riots stopped. The curfew was imposed throughout Greater Cincinnati, although its enforcement was limited to certain neighborhoods.

The older generation of black community leaders took the initiative to create non-violent means of protest. A boycott was called on Greater Cincinnati which led to several well known celebrities and organizations to cancel previously scheduled and recurring events, as well as several celebrities citing the racial tensions dissuading them from scheduling proposed events.

Federal Lawsuit

The federal lawsuit initiated prior to Thomas' death became more urgent. Citizen interest groups (Cincinnati Black United Front, Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, the ACLU, and several other groups) represented the plaintiffs. The case was presided by Judge Susan Dlott. To avoid proceeding to a point of finding the city guilty or innnocent of the charges, which would most likely have resulted in simply a monetary punative sentence if found guilty, the plaintiffs and the city's representatives agreed to create serious reforms in police-community relations referred to as the Collaborative Agreement.

At the same time the Department of Justice was reviewing the policies and practices of the City of Cincinnati's police force and developed a report on its findings. The reports suggested many areas of improvement received by the city August 13, 2002. All of the report's suggestions were initially included to be applied as part of the Collaborative Agreement.

Much of the Collaborative Agreement was based on suggestions formulated by a citizen and city discussion group managed by a third-party privately-owned professional conflict resolution group. Thousands of citizens, civil servants, and city officials, were brought in over the span of weeks, to propose changes to police, city, and citizen, behaviors and procedures. This information was then redressed and compiled by the third party group and presented to the actors in the federal lawsuit. The citizen-focused group working on the Collaborative Agreement worked without knowledge of the Department of Justice report's finding.

As a reaction to the out-of-court resoltuion, the city agreed to the following initiatives:

• Police-community relations through the formation of a community focus group that recommended CPOP (Community-Police Oriented Policing)

• Revision of the police's use of force policies

• Creation of a citizen-complaint panel independent of the police

These efforts were delayed and diffused through conflicts between elected city officials and representatives of citizen interest groups. Wranglings involved the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), headed by Kieth Fangman, and the police Chief, Tom Striecher, refusing to commit to smaller components of the agreement. The city's mayor, Charlie Luken, initially refused to use city funds to pay for the legal fees of the lawyer representing some of the citizen interest groups involved.

The representatives of the police refused to agree to these terms of the report:

• A report must be filed every time the police remove their sidearm from their holster

• The involvement of a federal judge to monitor and enforce the aspects of the agreement

• Switching the chemical irritant (ie: pepper spray) and reducing its usage as a primary response to aggressive behavior

John Ashscroft, US Attorney General, even signed the agreement noting he considered it a unique initiative in the nation.

The deadline (as set by the judge to ensure the out-of-court resolution was expidited) for the agreement approached but due to these points of contention from the FOP and chief, it remained unsigned. The deadline was extended at which point the plaintiffs allowed those points to remain out of the agreement in the interest of getting the Collaborative Agreement signed.

Officer Steven Roach

When the trial began the nation was reeling from the recent 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the focus of the media and city majority were on the national crisis.

The trial of officer Steven Roach began September 17, 2001. He was charged with the misdemeanors of negligent homicide and obstructing official business. The prosecutor and defense attorneys agreed to waive the jury. Waiving the jury came in the shadow of a grand jury deciding the indictments would be misdemeanors instead of felonies, which was protested by the various citizen-interest groups.

He was acquitted of the charges of negligent homicide and obstruction of official business. The announcement of these hearings sparked additional riots but they were considerably smaller and quickly ended. However, an internal investigation within the police, released March 20, 2002, found that he was dishonest in his report and that he did not follow police procedures when handling his sidearm. This contradicts the findings of the court verdict from September 27, 2001.

During the time between the police internal investigations' findings being released and the decision by the courts, Steven Roach left the Cincinnati Police force and began working in Evendale, a Greater Cincinnati suburb. When the internal investigation shared its findings there was no way to discipline Roach because he was working in a different municipality and he could not be retried.

With his credibility diminished after the internal investigation, and his adherence to procedures questioned, there were many protests over his hiring in the Evendale suburb, however, he remained with the department without receiving any punishments other than notoriety.

External links

Department of Justice's Report http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/cincita.htm

Officer Steven Roach
Trial
http://www.cincypost.com/2001/sep/17/roach091701.html
http://www.cincypost.com/2001/sep/19/roach091901.html
http://www.cincypost.com/2001/sep/20/roach092001.html
Police Inquiry
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/03/20/loc_1police_inquiry.html
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/05/12/loc_roachs_credibility.html