OHIO CITIES Varying reactions to police shootings

Police agree that programs that foster trust go a long way to preventing violence.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Public outcry over the deaths of black men in confrontations with Cincinnati police in the past few years has escalated into protests -- some violent. Similar encounters in other Ohio cities haven't seemed to spark the same degree of outrage. Some observers believe the amount of trust residents have in police and the openness of police in providing information determines communities' reactions.
"If citizens do not trust that police are there to protect them, they are much more likely to immediately think police are at fault when someone dies in a confrontation, regardless of the circumstances," said Ken Cooper, a Kingston, N.Y., consultant to police in the use of force.
Cooper supports community oriented policing, citizen police academies and other programs that bring residents and police together. He said that getting information out quickly to the public when confrontations occur also can help build trust and help citizens understand what happened.
Latest Cincinnati case
In the latest fatal confrontation in Cincinnati, a police car video showed Nathaniel Jones, 41, lunging and swinging at an officer Nov. 30 before being brought down with repeated strikes from nightsticks. City officials and police union leaders said the officers reacted as they were trained, to defend against being attacked.
While some were outraged to see police hitting Jones, they also saw his actions, Cooper said.
"Getting that on tape and getting the information out quickly and openly, so people can see what happened, is essential," he said.
He said release of the tape may have helped prevent the type of violent protests that erupted in Cincinnati in 2001 after a white police officer fatally shot a black man who ran. City officials, accused of delays in releasing information after that death, said they worked to more quickly release details of Jones' death.
Detective Carol Johnson, a Dayton police spokeswoman, said trust between police and the community is vital and getting even preliminary information out quickly helps build trust and affects how the public perceives police encounters.
Kirkland Smith, 44, died Dec. 5, hours after struggling with four Dayton police officers who arrested and handcuffed him. There was no major public outcry.
"You have to inform the public if you want them to understand what happened," Johnson said.
The Rev. Raleigh Trammell, president of the Dayton chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said the outcry in Dayton didn't approach that in Cincinnati because police and witnesses said officers did not strike Smith and there was no videotape to suggest otherwise.
"Even though there were no police blows, we still have some concerns about how the person died," Trammell said. "The matter is not closed."
Floyd Johnson, president of the Dayton branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said his group has helped maintain calm after police confrontations.
"The potential for violent protests is always there," he said. "The attitude of the rank-and-file officers toward citizens of color and the poor needs to improve everywhere."
Cleveland programs
Reaction to Cleveland police encounters has been relatively calm for years, said Cleveland police spokeswoman Lt. Linda Kaspar. Cleveland police also realize the importance of gaining the community's trust, and the department operates several programs aimed at building a stronger relationship. Police Sgt. DeLacy Davis, founder of Black Cops Against Police Brutality, based in East Orange, N.J., said he thinks Cincinnati is progressive because black activists are protesting deaths that result from encounters with police.
"I admire Cincinnati residents for not allowing themselves to be killed by law enforcement and for trying to change things," Davis said. "These kinds of deaths are happening in other cities, but many black people in those cities have not been trained to respond when they should."
Dr. Calvert Smith, president of the Cincinnati chapter of the NAACP, said the city's black residents have reacted more strongly than in other communities because there has been a series of such deaths. Police union leaders say that in virtually all of those cases, the men who died had attacked officers with potentially lethal weapons.
"The deaths of 18 black men since 1995 have incensed this city," Smith said. "And it's got to change."
Cincinnati officials say they are working to build trust and ease tensions.
"We have learned a lot from the public response to these deaths, and we are making progress in getting information out to the public and addressing their concerns," said David Pepper, chairman of the City Council's law and public safety committee.