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This is WVXU's special series from April 2021 looking back at the civil unrest of 2001 on the 20th anniversary of the police killing of Timothy Thomas, a young Black man, that led to remarkable change in the city of Cincinnati.

What Is Cincinnati's Collaborative Agreement — And Is It Still Working?

2001 cincinnati riots
Tom Uhlman
/
AP
Cincinnati Police in riot gear stand guard as firefighters put out a fire started in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood section of downtown Cincinnati, Tuesday, April 10, 2001.

The civil unrest in 2001 sparked by the deaths of Black men at the hands of Cincinnati police did more than grab international attention. It also accelerated advocates' efforts for systemic reforms to the city's police department.

Those reforms, mandated by federal courts after the unrest, became known as the Collaborative Agreement. Cincinnati has received national praise for the agreement, but its component parts are sometimes not well understood. And a 2017 effort to update the Collaborative Agreement has left questions about whether it is being administered as intended. 

Joining Cincinnati Edition to talk about police reform are Cincinnati Black United Front Member and Collaborative Agreement Project ManagerIris Roley; Friedman, Gilbert and Gerhardstein Attorney and Partner Al Gerhardstein; Cincinnati City Manager Paula Boggs Muething; and Senior Assistant City Solicitor Emily Woerner. 

Listen to Cincinnati Edition live at noon M-F. Audio for this segment will be uploaded after 4 p.m. ET.

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Michael Monks brings a broad range of experience to WVXU-FM as the host of Cincinnati Edition, Cincinnati Public Radio's weekday news and information talk show.