Chief who visited CPD to learn, returns to review UCPD

A police chief who is part of the team appointed review the University of Cincinnati Police Department visited Cincinnati last year to learn about the best practices in community policing.

UC's Office of Safety and Reform held a community meeting Monday night to introduce the Exiger Advisory team to the public. UC has contracted with the group to do a complete review of UCPD following the shooting death of Sam DuBose. UC's vice president of safety and reform said the changes the group recommends will be implemented.

Two Exiger members, former Philadephia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and Chief of the Tucson Police Department Roberto Villaseñor, were appointed by Barack Obama to the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing in 2014.

Villaseñor visited Cincinnati with the task force in January of 2015, sevens months before DuBose was killed. The two listening sessions were held at the University of Cincinnati.

Then-Chief Jeffrey Blackwell welcomed the task force, speaking at the listening sessions. Based on what it learned about community policing and other issues in Cincinnati, Washington D.C., and Phoenix, Arizona, the task force made recommendations directly to the Obama administration.

"Cincinnati, as a community, has a reputation of dealing with problems head on and getting engaged in community issues," Villaseñor told the crowd of about 40 Monday night. "That was my first visit and I was extremely impressed."

Transparency at the core of UC police reform

Attendees at Monday's meeting included many people involved in forming the Collaborative Agreement with the Cincinnati Police Department after the police killing of Timothy Thomas sparked riots in 2001. The reforms in the agreement are now touted as national model for community policing.

The first community member to speak to the Exiger team was Bomani Tyehimba, whose lawsuit against the City of Cincinnati became the basis for the Collaborative Agreement.

Iris Roley with Black United Front, civil rights attorney Al Gerhardstein, State Senator Cecil Thomas and several Cincinnati clergy members also asked pointed questions to the team and UC's recently appointed vice president of safety and reform Robin Engel and director of police community relations Gregory Baker.

In 2002, Baker was appointed the executive manager of community relations for the Cincinnati Police Department, helping guide it through the process of forming the Collaborative Agreement.

Villaseñor said the irony of working to reform a police department within a city that has already seen drastic police reform was not lost on him.

As community members filed out of the room at the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency in Bond Hill, he explained that seeing history apparently repeating itself is never easy.

"There's some people who were here for previous issues and they see similarities," he said. "There might have been a lot of things that have changed, but that doesn't mean it eliminated all problems."

He said the death of Sam DuBose demonstrates that problems with relations between the police and community can happen anywhere.

"No matter how good you are putting forth best practices and establishing great policies...it's a constant battle to keep those practices going forward," he said. "Policing is such a potentially volatile and dynamic profession that can affect the whole community if there's a mistake made."

Community skeptical of UCPD reform

Ramsey, Villaseñor's fellow 21st Century Policing task force member, said he thinks veteran activists will be an asset in the reform process at UCPD.

"It helps to have people with history because they know the before-and-after picture," he said after the meeting. "Now, it feels frustrating. Like they are starting all over again. Maybe in a sense, yes, but you also know the outcome can be a lot different, and worth the effort and worth the fight."

Ramsey said he was encouraged by the tough questions and critical comments.

"Clearly, there's a great deal of distrust and you have to overcome that," Ramsey said. "People were showing frustration tonight, but guess what? They showed up, so they haven't given up hope.

"Even though they're frustrated, even though they're a little angry and upset, they have not given up hope. If they had they wouldn't have even bothered to come out. There's something to work with here and we've got to be able to build on that."