Final group OKs lawsuit settlement
CINCINNATI (AP) – The final group unanimously approved a proposed settlement Tuesday of a year-old lawsuit that accused Cincinnati police of harassing black people for decades. All 27 representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union in Ohio who voted supported the deal, said Scott Greenwood, the chapter’s general counsel.
The ACLU was the fourth and final party to approve the settlement, which was reached last week. Rejection by any of the parties could have sent the lawsuit on to trial.
The deal still must be approved by a federal judge. The police union, City Council and black activists also voted for the deal.
The settlement includes the creation of a new agency to review police complaints.
The ACLU and black activists filed the suit in March 2001, accusing the city of 30 years of discrimination against blacks. The suit sought a court order permanently prohibiting racial profiling by police officers, which the police department has denied takes place.
About three weeks after the suit was filed, a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man who had been fleeing police on misdemeanor charges, mostly traffic warrants.
Three nights of rioting followed in Cincinnati’s worst violence in decades.
Greenwood said the voting took until midday Tuesday to complete because the ACLU members were in varying locations and needed time to read the settlement and then vote by telephone or e-mail.
Fraternal Order of Police officials said Monday the lawsuit’s allegations were false, but that the union joined in the settlement negotiations and endorsed the deal to have a voice in shaping it under the federal court-supervised mediation.
“We don’t do it, we haven’t done it, we never will do it,” Roger Webster, president of FOP Queen City Lodge No. 69, said of the racial-profiling allegations.
Webster also said the settlement is good for the union because it requires city officials and the groups that sued to help at improving police-community relations.
“There’s nothing in this particular document that we cannot live with,” Webster said.