A 19-year-old named Timothy Thomas, known to Cincinnati Police due to a string of outstanding traffic warrants, bolted from the cops one night in April 2001, leading them on a wild chase through Over-the-Rhine. In an alley near 12th and Republic, he ran up on Officer Stephen Roach, who suddenly shot and killed Thomas. He became the 15th African-American male killed by Cincinnati Police in 10 years.
The mayhem that resulted — protests at District 1 police headquarters and City Hall, dangerous riots and looting in Over-the-Rhine, nighttime curfews, horrible national media coverage — was shocking but not wholly unexplained. “We hold this truth to be self-evident: The city we love dearly is fundamentally fucked up,” editor John Fox wrote after the riots. “But that’s what happens when you can’t get anyone to listen. Sometimes you just explode.”
Mayor Charlie Luken promised “fundamental change” to address the long-simmering issues confronting our black community, but in the end he punted the task of devising solutions to a panel of civic leaders dubbed Cincinnati CAN (Community Action Now).
The task force ballooned to 125 important people, but by August several subcommittees hadn’t even met yet. We were fed up and formed our own panel (our editorial staff) and put together a manifesto for change we called Cincinnati MUST. In our opinion, its nine points offered a clear path to quick, meaningful, inexpensive change:
Police Chief Thomas Streicher must resign.
Police must establish foot patrols in Over-the-Rhine.
Citizens Police Review Panel must get subpoena power.
The city must finish the stalled Findlay Market rehab.
The city must clean up abandoned buildings throughout Over-the-Rhine.
City employees must be required to live in the city.
Article 12, which codified anti-gay discrimination in the city charter, must be repealed.
Voters must pass civil service reform to allow police chiefs to be hired from outside the department.
The city must establish an ombudsman’s office to help citizens gain easy access to city services.
In short, the Cincinnati Police force needed to be overhauled, Over-the-Rhine needed to become livable again and all citizens needed to have a stake in Cincinnati’s turnaround. It was indeed time for fundamental change.
Excerpt:
“The greatest peril facing Cincinnati is not violence, whether black-on-black, black-on-white or cop-on-citizen. The most serious threat facing us is complacency.
“This city is ready to pop; we’re a conflagration waiting to happen. The problem is not the change that’s coming but rather the pace and scope of that change. We are in a time of second chances, and we dare not delay further.”
Today:
Oh, we delayed further. An economic boycott against downtown businesses led to a backlash against black leaders and change agents. The U.S. Justice Department came calling to force police reforms, which led to a slowdown by Cincinnati Police, which led to an explosion of crime in Over-the-Rhine, which led to further backlash against black leaders and supporters, which led to Charlie Luken being re-elected mayor that fall.
Then a strange thing happened — small changes slowly started pushing through the haze. Findlay Market finished its market house renovation, 3CDC formed to rehab vacant buildings and Over-the-Rhine started to come back to life (see “1994” on page 6). Voters repealed Article 12 (see “1995” on page 7) and passed civil service reform. Chief Streicher retired, and Cincinnati hired two consecutive African-American police chiefs (James Craig, Jeffrey Blackwell) from outside the city. Foot patrols and bike cops became a regular part of policing in Over-the-Rhine.
Cincinnati Police and the urban community — black, white, young, old — worked through years of often tense “get to know you” sessions, while the new chiefs introduced proactive crime-fighting approaches that worked. Police are true partners with the community now, a relationship that’s become a national model for other cities to follow — in fact, Cincinnati community leaders went to Ferguson, Mo., after their police shooting and civil unrest to offer advice about the path forward to reconciliation.
One month after our Cincinnati MUST story, the 9/11 terrorists struck. We couldn’t put 2001 behind us fast enough.
This article appears in Nov 12-18, 2014.
