Tensing trial spurs fear and opportunity for reform

Iris Roley is a freedom activist and officer in the Black United Front. Al Gerhardstein is a Cincinnati civil rights attorney and one of the attorneys for the Sam DuBose family. Both have worked with the city of Cincinnati, Fraternal Order of Police and many others to establish and implement the Collaborative Agreement.

Enquirer reporter Mark Curnutte describes in detail the fear and distrust of the police that is a fact of life in African-American neighborhoods in Cincinnati (“Upcoming trial spurs apprehension” Oct. 16). The trial, of course, is that of Ray Tensing, a former University of Cincinnati police officer, who shot Sam DuBose in the head on July 19, 2015. Tensing was a white police officer on a nearly all-white force. He was enforcing near the campus a “no-fly” zone, where black people were targeted with discriminatory stops and excessive force. All of us are right to call out this brutal act and this style of policing as racist. DuBose was the third unarmed black man killed by UC police officers since 2010.

Serious damage has been done to the DuBose family and the entire community. That damage is reinforced by national stories of systemic police abuse. The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, triggered massive protests against an all-white police department that repeatedly used arrests and fines to criminalize poverty. The U.S. Department of Justice Ferguson report disclosed a modern day system of debtors prisons filled with black people. The killing of Eric Garner in New York City triggered protests against a zero-tolerance policing strategy enforced with massive stop-and-frisks targeting people of color. A federal court held the NYC stop-and-frisk system to be unconstitutional.  Baltimore exploded after Freddy Gray was killed because – as found just this month by the DOJ – the police department routinely used excessive force and illegal searches against communities of color. There is a national problem of oppressive policing unfairly focused on black and brown people. Seventeen U.S. police departments are currently under DOJ decrees requiring comprehensive police reforms. If there is a “Ferguson Effect,” it is that policing based on unfair and abusive treatment of African Americans will only breed distrust and fear.

We have been there. Fifteen years ago, following the unjust shooting by Cincinnati police of a series of black victims, the shooting of Timothy Thomas triggered several days of unrest. The DOJ, the Black United Front on behalf of the black community, the city of Cincinnati and the Fraternal Order of Police engaged in a very public, transparent process that produced five goals shared by the entire community. Under the Collaborative Agreement and related measures, we have a police force that is about one-third African-American and a quarter female. We disbanded the “Vortex Unit” and eliminated its tactic of rampant stop-and-frisk. We put video into all the cruisers and are now outfitting officers with body cams. We require bias-free policing and track all traffic and pedestrian stops. We reformed use-of-force policies and training, especially with respect to interactions with the mentally ill. We committed to a philosophy of public safety based on problem solving, which reduces opportunities for crime while minimizing, where appropriate, the use of arrests. These measures and others have made the Cincinnati Police Department a national model of police reform.

Does the CPD live up to its national model reputation? We all know that with over 1,000 officers, Cincinnati will continue to experience unjust encounters. That is why we have an independent Citizens Complaint Authority to track down all abuse. People need to use it. Plus, Cincinnati is but one of 47 police departments in Hamilton County. Most black residents of the county encounter multiple police jurisdictions every day. People like Mark Hughes Jr. and Rev. Vera Cole who were quoted in the article are legitimately scared they or their loved ones will be the next Sam DuBose. We need to acknowledge their fear and expand the reform work as much as possible. Turning the conversation to so-called “black-on-black” crime does not address in any way the issue of how police treat African Americans. Nor does it acknowledge the problem-solving tools in place in Cincinnati to reduce all crime. This is a moment to teach Cincinnati about tools we have that treat people fairly and that work to reduce crime. We should not give in to sloganeering.

The Tensing trial highlights one of the most egregious acts of police violence on a citizen that Cincinnati has ever seen. None of us – black, white, police or civilian – want to see that repeated. We trust we can all agree on that. The University of Cincinnati Police Department has correctly started the slow path toward reform: abandoning the profiling, changing the leadership team and adopting the Exiger report as a blueprint forward. Let’s make sure – like we did with the Collaborative – the blueprint is publicly transformed into sound-and-fair policies, procedures and training.

Soon, the city of Cincinnati will authorize a professional review of the implementation of the Collaborative Agreement, and we will all have an opportunity engage in a citywide dialogue on safety and fair treatment. Only by turning toward and not away from each other can we overcome the fears spurred by the Tensing trial.  Let’s be honest, willing to change where we are wrong, and, with humility and respect, hold ourselves accountable to each other.