Citizen Compliant Authority short-staffed, behind on investigations

The head of the group that investigates citizen complaints against the Cincinnati Police Department warned Cincinnati City Council members the group is so short-staffed it is seven months behind on investigating complaints and that could undermine citizens' confidence in the group.

So few investigators leaves no time to look at bigger issues, Citizen Complaint Authority Board Chairman Scott Knox told Council's Law and Public Safety Committee Monday.

"We give the public confidence," Knox said. "If we lose that credibility we lose a lot."

Councilman Christopher Smitherman, chairman of Council's Law and Public Safety Committee, pledged that CCA's needs would be addressed in the upcoming budget process.

"CCA's work is very important," Smitherman said. "It continues to bring transparency for citizens. It is a layer of accountability for the police department that the department has accepted and respects. We have to make sure we did not gut a department that is incredibly progressive."

The Citizen Complaint Authority was created as part of the Collaborative Agreement that came out of the city's 2001 riots, which were ignited by the fatal police shooting of Timothy Thomas, an unarmed black man.

What happened in the years that followed would turn Cincinnati a national model for how community policing should be done. A "collaborative agreement" between police, federal officials and local civil rights groups guided the change in Cincinnati.

The CCA is part of the effort. The CCA takes and investigates complaints from citizens; looks for patterns of misconduct; and recommends any policy changes that are needed.

The authority has had up to five investigators, but is currently operating with two. There is so much work, the director is doing investigations instead of focusing on best practices, Knox said.

"CCA is an integral part of our community collaboration," said City Manager Harry Black. "It is not going anywhere. This is short term."

The group's work is so respected Knox said officials from Ferguson, Missouri – where protests and riots followed the police shooting of an 18-year-old black man – have reached out for guidance in creating a similar authority.

Since 2003, when the authority was created, complaints are down 52 percent, going from 667 complaints in 2003 to 320 last year. Actual cases investigated declined 65 percent, going from 191 in 2003 to 67 last year. Black said the city is in the process of hiring a new director for the department after the last one left because he did not comply with city residency rules. After that the number of investigators needed will be accessed.

"The one thing we're urging is for the city to give us back our investigators," Knox said. "We're going to have scrutiny, we need to make sure we are up to it."

The group meets monthly to discuss findings. Public records show it canceled the January and March meetings, It next meets April 6. Knox said the board will discuss August complaints.

Councilman Kevin Flynn promised Knox Council will look at replacing at least one investigator in the upcoming budget process.

"I do think we are a model for the rest of the nation for police community relations," Flynn said. "We need to keep being the model."

In 2010 then Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan – as the city faced a $60 million deficit in its operating budget – suggested eliminating CCA to save about $500,000. Council didn't let that happen.