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Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, experienced the worst rioting (often referred to as "revolts" or an "uprising" by supporters and sympathizers) since the 1960s from April 10, 2001, through April 12, 2001. The riots were a reaction to the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old black male, Timothy Thomas, by a white police officer, Steven Roach, at 2:20 a.m. on April 7, 2001, during an on-foot pursuit by several officers. Nickname: The Queen City Location in Hamilton County, Ohio Coordinates: Country United States State Ohio County Hamilton Founded 1788 Incorporated 1819 Mayor Mark L. Mallory (D) Area - City 206. ...
Look up rebellion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ...
April 10 is the 100th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (101st in leap years). ...
2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ...
2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
Timothy Thomas was a 19-year old African-American man killed by a Cincinnati, Ohio police officer (Steven Roach) on April 8, 2001. ...
Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio experienced the worst rioting (often referred to as revolts or an uprising by supporters and sympathizers) from April 10, 2001 through April 12, 2001 since the 1960s. ...
April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ...
2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
Background of tensions
Between February, 1995 and April, 2001 15 black males, most of them extremely violent and dangerous, were killed by police, while no other males from other races were killed by police (during apprehension, chase, confrontation or while in custody in cruisers). Police reports reflect that nationwide in the United States, not only do whites commit far fewer crimes than blacks, but whites also resist arrest at a rate far less than blacks. During that same span, regardless of the crime or whether or not white suspects resisted, no whites died in police custody. 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
The disproportionate death rate, although often cited as the most dramatic, was not the only aspect of the charges. A local independent magazine, City Beat, published research that an "analysis of 141,000 traffic citations written by Cincinnati Police in a 22-month period found black drivers twice as likely as whites to be cited for driving without a license, twice as likely to be cited for not wearing a seat belt and four times as likely to be cited for driving without proof of insurance." National trend or localized anomaly, the lawsuit was based on a disproportional number of arrests, citations, and deaths. Some note that the number of deaths during confrontations with police is relatively proportional for a city the size of Cincinnati but the focus of the lawsuit was on the fact that only Blacks died during that span. Citybeat can refer to either of the following: Citybeat: a pop music group that was active in Hong Kong during the 1980s CityBeat: a local arts and issues publication covering the area of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise...
Despite all the situations which lead to the deaths of the young black males, no police were ever found guilty through any civil or criminal trials and in only one case were the police officers involved reprimanded and given extra training (Death of Michael Carpenter by Officers Michael Miller, III and Brent McCurley).
Owensby, Irons & Tyehimba A black business man, Bomani Tyehimba, filed a lawsuit in 1999 against the city of Cincinnati claiming police illegally ordered him out of his car, handcuffed him, roughed him up, all at gunpoint, during what should have been a routine traffic stop. Unlike previous cases, there was a shift to introduce a policy and procedure change in Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) behavior. The case was escalated in relevance when Owensby's and Irons' incidents occurred.
Roger Owensby, Jr. died November 7, 2000 while struggling with police. The Hamilton County Coroner's Office found that he died due to manual asphyxiation from a chokehold either while the chokehold was being applied or afterwards due to damage and how he was positioned in the back of the cruiser. Roger Owensby, Jr was a twenty-nine-year-old black male who died November 7, 2000 during a scuffle with the Cincinnati Police Department. ...
November 7 is the 311th day of the year (312th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 54 days remaining. ...
This article is about the year 2000. ...
Early in the morning hours, after Owensby's death, Jeffery Irons, another black male, was killed while struggling with police.
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The charges of manslaughter and misdemeanor assault were filed against the officers Jorg and Caton January 3, 2001 for Owensby's death. One of the main points of contention was which officer, Jorg or Caton, may have caused his death through an improper or aggressive headlock. Jorg and Caton had individual trials, often sharing the same evidence and witnesses, but neither officer was found to have caused the death although, obviously, Owensby had died through improper police procedures. Caton was found not guilty and Jorg's case ended in a mistrial with the jury deadlocked 10-2 for acquittal. The investigation and trial had some questionable details: Roger Owensby, Jr was an unarmed 29 year old Black man who died during a scuffle with Cincinnati Police on November 7 2000. ...
Roger Owensby, Jr was an unarmed 29 year old Black man who died during a scuffle with Cincinnati Police on November 7 2000. ...
January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
- After the trial, Jorg abruptly quit the police force on the day the internal investigation was going to question him (making questioning him impossible) and joined the Pierce Township police department
- Police Officer Victor Spellen, a key witness in both Jorg's and Caton's individual trials, told the grand jury presiding over Caton's trial that Jorg used a tight head wrap on Owensby, but testified while a witness at Jorg's trial that it was loose. The testimony from the individual trials was not shared. He was later fired from the CPD for his false testimony, but no charges were made against him for perjury.
- Certain civilian witnesses allowed to testify in one trial in defense of the officer on trial were discredited and not allowed to testify in the other. There were more than a dozen civilian witnesses to the incident but Mike Allen, the Hamilton Co. prosecutor, dismissed most of them except the shakey testimony of one 19-year old.
- The charges that Owensby was being arrested for had changed from the initial report to his parents until the final report by the police altering from drug possession allegations, previous warrants for assault on officers (which did not exist), being uncooperative at the scene previous to the struggle and even mistaken identity.
- The Hamilton County prosecutor, Mike Allen, chooses not to re-try despite the introduction of Spellen's conflicting testimony and eyewitness testimonies that led to the deadlocked jury
- After the trial, during internal investigations, all the police at the scene were disciplined and several were dismissed from the force for their misbehavior. Even though the police force found them to be reckless, negligent or not looking after the well-being of Owensby, there were no criminal charges sought because the internal investigation's results came out after the criminal trial
A group combined individual civil claims against Cincinnati, the police force, and individual police as private citizens, into the Federal lawsuit brought by Tyehimba, filed March 14, 2001, on behalf of the black men and their surving family that had died since 1995. They alleged racial profiling but made sure to emphasize a demand for behavioral change by the CPD beyond or instead of punitive and restitutive damages. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...
March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ...
2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
Officer Roach shoots Timothy Thomas While the city was embroiled in emotional discussions about racial tensions and police conduct regarding those incidents, Timothy Thomas ran from police down a dark alley, and was killed.
Timothy had 14 misdemeanor charges, which led to a warrant for his arrest. None of the charges were for violent offenses. The charges included parking tickets, not wearing a seatbelt, loitering, as well as running from police. Timothy initially was approached by two off-duty policemen who were familiar to Thomas in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, one of the highest-crime areas of the city. The chase was joined by several police who were in the area when Officer Roach joined in the pursuit. Over the Rhine (or OTR, as they are sometimes referred to) are an Ohio-based musical band. ...
According to Roach's statements, Thomas unexpectedly came from around a corner according to Roach's court testimony, he reacted with deadly force as he thought Timothy was reaching for a weapon.
Roach explained his reaction by reporting:
- He was made aware that Thomas had several warrants but police cruiser technology did not reveal the nature of outstanding warrants so he was unaware they were non-violent.
- He gave the verbal command to stop but Thomas did not comply before making the gesture of lowering his arms.
- Thomas was probably reaching to pull up his pants which were quite large and sagged below as was the current style of many young men at the time so when he lowered his arms without instruction the intent was unclear in that moment of heightened tension.
- It was a dark alley and visibility was limited.
However, those statements came under scrutiny as other portions of his story revealed his failure to follow proper police procedures (please see the Officer Stephen Roach section below) including not giving proper time for Thomas to respond to verbal commands, running with a firearm with his finger on the trigger, and a conflicting initial report to the next officers to arrive on the scene as well detectives investigating the incident later. Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, experienced the worst rioting (often referred to as revolts or an uprising by supporters and sympathizers) since the 1960s from April 10, 2001, through April 12, 2001. ...
Timothy Thomas became the 15th black male, most of them violent and dangerous felons, to have died in confrontations with police or while in police custody since 1995 while no whites (male or female) died during that span. Of course, since blacks commit the vast majority of crimes in Cincinnati and nationwide, and it's quite rare for whites or females to attack police officers or resist arrest, this is hardly surprising. And, of the 15 separate incidents in which the black males died, there are only three that are even questionable as to police conduct. For example, the first of the fifteen was Harvey Price, who killed his daughter with an ax. After being surrounded by a SWAT team, he held them off with a butcher knife for hours. Finally, he lunged at an officer with a knife, and was shot and killed. Another case was Jermaine Lowe, who was driving in a stolen car, while wanted for parole violations and armed robbery. When he spotted a police cruiser, he sped away in the stolen car, with the police pursuing. After crashing the stolen car into another car, he jumped out and began shooting at the police, who shot back, killing him. Alfred Pope had already been arrested for 18 felonies and convicted of five of them, when he attacked three people in an apartment hallway with a gun, beating them and pistol whipping them, and allegedly shooting at them. When police arrived in the hallway, he turned and pointed his gun at them, and he was shot and killed.
The Timothy Thomas incident occurred while the trial over racial profiling sparked by Owensby's death was beginning. This combination pushed the hatred and contempt of many blacks for the police to manifest into violent riots, in which many innocent white motorists and pedestrians were viciously attacked.
The beginning On April 9, 2001, the first Monday after Thomas was shot and killed, between 150 and 200 black Cincinnati residents, including Thomas' mother, Angela Leisure, stormed the City Council chambers, where the City Council was holding a law and public safety committee meeting. The group interrupted the council meeting demanding details of the incident and immediate accountability for the death of an unarmed youth. They were disruptive as some in the loosely-organized group insulted and shouted down councilmembers as they attempted to proceed with the daily procedures before council. The explanation that the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) had not gathered the details and were not ready to make an official report on the incident was unsatisfactory to the crowd which responded with continuous disruptions. In the crowd there were signs with sentiments such as "Stop Killing Us or Else" and "Wear Seat Belt or Be Executed" (an allusion to some of the charges Thomas was being chased for). When the crowd left the interior of the building some people vandalized the interior and exterior of City Hall. April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ...
2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
A law committee meeting was held to discuss the shooting incident. Thousands of protestors marched to CPD1 headquarters, whose jurisdiction includes the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood where Thomas was shot and most of the rioting took place. At the headquarters, protestors locked arms and shouted at the police demanding the release of the information and immediate accountability. To further demonstrate their frustration protesters lowered the U.S. flag which was flying outside police headquarters and raised it upside down. Over the Rhine (or OTR, as they are sometimes referred to) are an Ohio-based musical band. ...
At approximately midnight, after warning the crowd several times to disperse, police turned off the street lights and began firing on the protestors with bean bags and tear gas. A smaller protest the next day at the corner of Vine and 13th Streets also was dispersed with bean-bag bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray. The next day the disturbance increased to the point where most consider the riot to have begun.
The riots The riots began in earnest at nightfall. A group which was peacefully protesting in police presence near City Hall was dispersed and elements reformed on the residential outskirts of downtown. They moved into the business area of downtown Cincinnati and rioted.
There was violence against White and non-Black citizens who were in the area. Businesses were looted, storefronts damaged, and small fires were set. The rampaging crowd consisted mostly of young Blacks. The police's reaction was to guide the nucleus of the crowd by forming human walls to prevent the crowd from spreading while not fully encircling it allowing it to progress in the opening allowed. There were several injuries reported, none were serious, and some gunshots were reported.
The news of the rioting spread quickly and simultaneous riots broke out throughout Cincinnati suburbs of negligible damage. The streets were deserted in the early morning hours and businesses that were not damaged returned to as normal operations as possible.
Throughout the next day downtown sufferred a considerable loss of production, worker attendance and commerce. Many companies made sure their employees left the facilities before later hours to ensure they were safe from a possible resurgence of violence. During the work day a small contingency of protesters gathered between the residential and business boundaries of downtown, shouting, disrupting traffic in a very confined area (of approximately 2 blocks on one street) but remained peaceful. There was a high concentration of police in that bordered area with pairs of police stationed throughout downtown on various street corners. Even with the police presence (and some suggest due to the police presence) when darkness hit the streets the riots returned.
The violence the 2nd day was widespread. More incidents outside of the downtown area were reported (mainly in communities with a high concentration of Blacks). Even though there was the presence of some Black community leaders (church congregation leaders, non-business organization leaders, etc.) before nightfall they were unable to keep the crowd from becoming violent. Again, the riots ended in the early morning hours and the next day, undamaged (and some damaged) businesses reopened, but with considerable less commerce and attendance.
Aftermath On the third night of violence, looting, and vandalizing, Charlie Luken, the mayor of Cincinnati, issued a city-wide curfew which happened to be accompanied by rain, and the riots stopped. The curfew was for all of Cincinnati, but was only enforced in neighborhoods where there were higher concentrations of African-Americans. There were no reports of rioting from the 13th or later. The immediate crisis had ended but the immediate damage was estimated at $3.6 million. Charles J. Luken (born July 18, 1951, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American politician of the Democratic party who currently serves as mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. ...
Thomas' Funeral incident On April 14, Timothy Thomas' funeral took place. More than 2,000 mourners attended and, after the funeral, spontaneously peaceably marched in protest. A considerable police presence was there in expectation of having a large crowd to control. The impromptu march headed downtown and remained non-violent. The march was marked by an incident where local (Cincinnati) and State (Ohio) law enforcement personnel shot non-lethal projectiles into the crowd causing several injuries to children and adults. The most severely injured was a White schoolteacher Christina Jones who suffered broken ribs, bruised spleen, and other injuries. Mary Ann Meredith, a 51-year old woman, was struck in the head by the beanbags shot. April 14 is the 104th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (105th in leap years). ...
- According to the accounts of the individuals who fired the non-lethal projectiles, they were responding to an unruly crowd report and were attempting to disperse them through using this deterrent. They state they gave several verbal commands for the large crowd to disperse before shooting into the crowd. The individuals involved were highly-trained SWAT instructors; veterans of the police force.
- According to eyewitness and local journalist accounts, the police involved pulled up at the corner of Elm and Liberty streets, got out of their cars and with no preceding verbal commands, began to open fire indiscriminately into the crowd of peaceful marchers. The police then returned to their cars and sped off with no further attempts to corral or instruct the crowd they had just fired upon.
City Manager Valerie Lemmie noted the officers involved acted according to use-of-force policy while citing the language regarding options for use of force according to C.P.D. policies and procedures at the time absolving them of any disciplinary action. Those use-of-force polices would soon be under scrutiny by the Department of Justice.
Cincinnati boycott Several interest groups that were involved in the trial about racial profiling centering around Owensby's death, organized a boycott against Cincinnati. They targeted all businesses within the downtown area of Cincinnati. Some well-known celebrities such as Bill Cosby, Whoopi Goldberg, Wynton Marsalis, Smokey Robinson, Barbara Ehrenreich, and other organizations cancelled previously-scheduled and recurring events, while others, including Alicia Keys and James Brown, disregarded the boycott. Some of the cancelling entertainers and conventions cited the racial tensions as dissuading them from scheduling proposed events so they could indirectly support the boycott. The boycott caused Cincinnati to lose more than $10 million in convention and entertainment revenue before the boycott finished its first year. Look up Boycott in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Dr. William Henry Bill Cosby, Jr. ...
Sarafina movie poster featuring Whoopi Goldberg Whoopi Goldberg (born Caryn Elaine Johnson, November 13, 1955), is an Academy Award, Daytime Emmy Award, Golden Globe, Tony, BAFTA and Grammy Award-winning American comedian, film actress and radio DJ. Although her father was a Protestant preacher, Goldberg says that her family is...
New Orleans-born jazz and classical artist and composer Wynton Marsalis Wynton Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter and composer. ...
William Smokey Robinson, Jr. ...
Barbara Ehrenreich Barbara Ehrenreich (born August 26, 1941, in Butte, Montana) is a social critic and essayist. ...
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James Brown, known variously as: Soul Brother Number One, the Godfather of Soul, Mr. ...
The boycott was organized by several different groups. Since its inception, there have been some incidents of friction within the organization as different groups left. The basic demands of the boycott were made at its introduction. However, some of the contributing groups independently tagged on demands. The boycott is currently in effect, and its supporters continue to protest at special events and private businesses.
Federal lawsuit The Federal lawsuit initiated prior to Thomas' death became more urgent. Citizen interest groups (Cincinnati Black United Front, the American Civil Liberties Union (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 innocent of the charges, which most likely would have resulted in simply a monetary punitive sentence if found guilty, the plaintiffs and the city's representatives agreed to create changes in police-community relations referred to as the Collaborative Agreement.
At the same time the U.S. Department of Justice was reviewing the policies and practices of the Cincinnati Police Division and developed a report on its findings. The report, suggesting many areas of improvement, was received by the City August 13, 2002. All of the report's suggestions initially were included to be applied as part of the Collaborative Agreement. August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ...
For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...
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 then was 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 Keith 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. Charles J. Luken (born July 18, 1951, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American politician of the Democratic party who currently serves as mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. ...
There were some seriously contentious recommendations, among those were:
- Require officers to provide a written explanation of every use of force
- Allow citizens to submit complaints without visiting a police station and allow them to take a support person to complaint resolution meetings
- Notify the police communications section about ongoing special operations
- Allow recruits to anonymously evaluate their field training officers.
In the end, the agreement was signed by the police on the condition these parts were left out: - 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 (i.e., pepper spray) and reducing its usage as a primary response to aggressive behavior
John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General, 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 of Police, 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 Stephen Roach The criminal trial of Officer Stephen Roach began September 17, 2001. September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ...
2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
The criminal charges were lead by city officers and none of the citizen-activist group's lawyers or Angela Leisure had any say in the proceedings except as possible witnesses. They took no part as representatives. The entire criminal case procedures are handled by the city, as is usual (with it being Hamilton County v. Ofc. Roach).
Indictment proceedings During the indictment proceeding, lead by prosecutor Mike Allen, the grand jury who determined the scope of the charges limited it to a maximum misdemeanor of negligent homicide and obstructing official business not reckless homicide or higher. This divided the citizenry as well as it disappointed many citizens while being heralded as protecting law enforcement by another section of local society.
Criminal trial details For the actual trial, it was decided to waive the jury and have the trial decided by judges alone. Due to the fact the justice deparment and law enforcement could be considered part of the same local legal system, each being sympathetic to the other, the removal of judgement by a jury of his peers further raised suspicions by many of the civilian population. Citizen interest groups protested this decision.
At the end of the trial Roach was acquitted of negligent homicide and obstruction of official business (stemming from allegations he gave conflicting accounts in official reports of the incident as well as different testimonies between indictment and trial). The announcement of this verdict sparked additional riots but they were of negligible damage and brief.
A request was made for an expungement, which was granted by Judge Winkler. This expungement not only cleared the officer's name (officially stating that no charges were ever brought) but sealed the records of his criminal case which would become a point of contention when Angela Leisure brought civil charges in a federal court against Roach as the federal judge Speigel demanded the city release these sealed records.
Police internal investigation results After the criminal trial was finished the police department continued it's internal investigation into his behavior, procedure adherence and conflicting testimony. After facing the internal investigation's inquiries Ofc. Roach left the Cincinnati police department and began working for a suburb just outside of Cincinnati, Evendale. His transfer to Evendale drew criticism from the same activist group but was allowed to work there. Evendale is a village in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. ...
The police internal investigation came to the conclusion that Roach was intentionally dishonest in his report, did not follow police procedures for handling a firearm in a pursuit, and did not give the suspect ample time to respond to his commands. The police chief, Striecher, suggested that Roach, if still with the CPD, would be disciplined for those actions but stopped short of saying Roach would have been fired for those violations. The report's review focused on:
- When Roach was approached by the 1st officer on the scene, he made the statement that the "gun just went off". No initial mentioning of Thomas possibly reaching for a weapon or visibility. In the official written report of the incident he stated that he thought he saw Thomas reaching for a weapon and reacted with deadly force.
- While in pursuit of the suspect Roach ran with weapon drawn while his finger was on the trigger. There was no report of the suspect being armed and it was specifically against police procedures to run with a finger on the trigger to avoid possible misfirings.
- A police cruiser was videotaping the intersection from a crossing street. The video did not capture the actual shooting incident, but did capture Roach chasing Thomas into the alley and the time Roach gave Thomas a verbal command to stop and when the shot can be heard was too short according to police procedures.
The internal investigation report came out after the trial was finished and after Roach had left the CPD for the suburb of Evendale. Mike Allen, the prosecutor, refused to reopen the case citing this new information did not warrant it.
Angela Leisure took Ofc. Roach to trial along with the City of Cincinnati in a civil wrongful death lawsuit on May 9th, 2001 but the civil trial did not begin in earnest until after the criminal trial and police inquiry.
Wrongful death suit The case was originally filed a month after Timothy Thomas' death by his mother in 2001, Angela Leisure. The trial did not begin until January, 2003. This trial took place in a federal court, unlike the local court of the criminal case, presided by U.S. District Court Judge S. Arthur Spiegel.
Illegal out-of-court settlement scandal While waiting for the trial to begin a report came out that Alicia Reece, vice-mayor of Cincinnati, was party to an attempt to have Angela Leisure dismiss her high-profile lawyer in an embarrassing way and drop her case against the city, a scandalous accusation which Reece vehemently denied.
Leisure alleges that James Washington, an associate of Reece's father (Steve Reece) and owner of a well known prosperous local transportation service contacted her on April 23rd to settle her lawsuit in one day only if she fires her primary lawyer, Ken Lawson. Washington then made the statement that he had spoken to officials which, in a later call, he identified the official as Alicia Reece. The following day Washington is said to have contacted Reece to let her know he had contacted Leisure and, afterwards, Reece notified the City Manager, Valarie Lemmie. The lawsuit also suggested that Reece's father, Steve, was directing this effort noting that Washington suggested this connection saying “Steve Reece is Alicia Reece."
Leisure sued Reece for $55 million federal lawsuit late April, 2002 stating that the vice mayor and her father engaged in an “underhanded, manipulative and illegal scheme” to induce Mrs. Leisure to settle her lawsuit for “peanuts.” Alicia Reece, denied these allegations vehemently in a press-release April 30th, 2002, stating: "I never discussed a specific dollar amount of a settlement. I never met with Ms. Leisure or with Mr. Washington regarding the settlement. Neither my father nor I initiated these conversations or engaged in any improper conduct."
Audio taped conversations between Leisure and Washington, which were secretly recorded by Leisure, were made public in May. In these tapes Washington states he was in contact with Reece previous to his calls and during his calls.
Leisure later dropped the case.
Civil trial begins She was suing the city for violations of Thomas' civil rights based on a pattern of violations of other young Black males' violation of their rights. She was suing Roach as an officer and private citizen as well.
The city reached a settlement in this case by making a settlement with many of the other cases that were brought to bear against them for many of the previous deaths. A total of $4.5 million was distributed to 16 plaintiffs but did not settle the Owensby case. The settlement was designed to prevent the multiple trials from going to court incurring millions in court costs by the city (projected to surpass $10 million), allow the city to avoid admitting guilt, avoiding possibly tarnishing the city's image by a protracted trial, and prevent the individual policemen who were named as private citizens in the cases from possibly being tried.
Then city manager, Valerie Lemmie, stated the city only had $1.2 million left marked to pay court judgements at that time and would have to make cuts to city services to get the remaining $4.5 million.
Possible legacy of violence Since the riots Cincinnati has set city records for murders and other violent crime, though the relationship between such crime and the riots is not clear. In the vast majority of the cases, the criminals have been young black males. (Cincinnati is hardly unique in this respect-blacks commit crimes at about eight times the rate of whites; anywhere there is a large black population the vast majority of criminals will be black.) As of October 2005, the city is on pace to set another record for homicides. Between January and October, there have been 67 homicides, on a pace to be 85 by year's end.
Shortly after the riots the police embarked on a "work slowdown", where they reduced their efforts in an attempt to demonstrate their frustration with the additional scrutiny and lack of support from other city entities. This meant they did not go out of their way for discretionary or self-related work, but they still did respond to emergencies. The FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) president, Keith Fangman, said: "If you want to make 20 traffic stops a shift and chase every dope dealer you see, you go right ahead," he wrote. "Just remember that if something goes wrong, or you make the slightest mistake in that split second, it could result in having your worst nightmare come true for you and your family, and City Hall will sell you out."
This slowdown correlates with the increase in violence and murder that since has gripped the downtown area of Cincinnati. It is important to note that Fangman repeatedly denied there was an organized effort for a slowdown, but many of his various statements discouraged pro-active policing repeatedly.
External links
Racial profiling lawsuit details The Cincinnati Post is an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio. ...
Citybeat can refer to either of the following: Citybeat: a pop music group that was active in Hong Kong during the 1980s CityBeat: a local arts and issues publication covering the area of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise...
Civil trial v. Roach & Cincinnati The Cincinnati Enquirer is a daily morning newspaper published at Cincinnati, Ohio. ...
WCPO-TV, ABC9 is a broadcast television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, affiliated with the ABC network. ...
Riot details
Department of Justice report
Riot statistics
Officer Steven Roach Trial: - Roach trial begins today – Cincinnati Post
- Detective: Roach lied about shooting – Cincinnati Post
- Police investigator grilled – Cincinnati Post
- Judges spar on Roach records – Cincinnati Enquirer
Police Inquiry: Lost gun: - Gun loss adds to security probe – Cincinnati Post
Funeral protest/procession beanbag incident
Boycott
Council meeting before riots
Details of the Roach and Thomas incident
Owensby's death - Owensby investigation timeline – Cincinnati Post
- Officers Did Not Help Dying Man, Judge Says – WLWT-TV
WLWT-TV is the NBC television affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio, broadcasting its analog signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter located in Cincinnati. ...
Police slowdown
Cooperative agreement - Time to Pay – Resistance and hostility from police participants, from CityBeat
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