The landmark deal to end a racial profiling lawsuit against Cincinnati promotes a new system of policing as one of its central goals.

        But some police officials say it won't bring much change to the way officers on the street do their jobs.

        And civilian residents, who are supposed to put the plan into action, are struggling with what it is and how to make it work.

        “We are confused right now,” said Steve Sunderland, who has organized several community meetings about the settlement. “It's not clear.”

        If problems aren't solved quickly, Mr. Sunderland said he fears nothing will change and the chance to enhance community policing will be lost.

        “I think the effort should start immediately,” he said. “If we avoid that, then we avoid the gift that has been given to us.”

        Problems start with the definition of the new system, which is called Community Problem-Oriented Policing, or CPOP.

        CPOP was developed in 1979 by a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Law. The Newport News Police Department in Virginia became the first to adopt it as standard procedure in 1984.

        As part of the settlement to end the racial profiling lawsuit in Cincinnati, the plaintiffs, the police union and city officials agreed to adopt a similar program.

        The agreement, which will be overseen by an independent monitor, requires all of the parties to meet a series of deadlines to develop and implement CPOP. It also requires the department to issue reports detailing new problem-solving methods.

        But Mr. Sunderland and other citizens say they are still confused about their roles — and want to make sure it is successful.

        Residents and officers question how CPOP differs from traditional community-oriented policing methods, such as neighborhood officers, drug-education programs and neighborhood watch patrols.

        The confusion is compounded because there is no clear method to follow.
       

Nontraditional policing        

Two Cincinnati neighborhoods, Madisonville and Evanston, are being pointed to as examples of CPOP. But most of their initiatives came from Evanston's designation two years ago as a federal Weed and Seed neighborhood, a program that has its own standards and goals.

        The mayor's task force on race relations, Cincinnati Community Action Now, is pushing its own ideas to enhance community police relations, too, also with Evanston and Madisonville as starters.

        Many of CAN's goals are copied from Weed and Seed, a U.S. Department of Justice program that gives cities money to weed out crime first, then work on economic development.

        But Mr. Sunderland said that leaves questions about the best approach, and who is supposed to lead it.

        John Eck, criminal justice professor at the University of Cincinnati, said there is no single method for CPOP: What works in Hyde Park might not work in Bond Hill.

        But the basic tenet is residents helping officers understand problems in their neighborhoods and developing solutions that might not involve traditional police responses.

        “(Police) do not change by themselves,” he said. “But you can't beat them up too badly, because they will turn off.”

        CPOP differs from traditional community-oriented policing because it has a structure for identifying a problem, figuring out its cause, developing a response and analyzing the results.

        Mr. Eck, who helped develop the CPOP strategy for the settlement of the racial profiling lawsuit, said community-oriented policing is “undefinable.” He said there are “as many styles as there are agencies” and for years any new policing approach has been labeled as community-policing.

        Not so with CPOP, which depends on neighborhood involvement.

        Cincinnati officers, however, say the new method won't alter their daily work much. Some also bristleat the suggestion that they don't now seek out problems and find ways to solve them.

        Capt. Michael Cureton, the District 2 commander who oversees Madisonville and Evanston, admits figuring out the differences between CPOP and other on-going community programs “can be confusing.”

        But he sees value in helping residents become more involved.

        Capt. Cureton said CAN has held CPOP training classes for 15 people in Evanston and 27 in Madisonville.

        “It gets the community more involved in identifying what the problems are,” he said.

        For example, members of Citizens on Patrol recently took pictures of 67 junked cars in Madisonville, which prompted faster towing efforts, he said.

        CPOP is not a radical shift from current efforts, said Lt. Larry Powell, community-oriented policing coordinator.

        “It's almost a progression,” he said. “Now we will be doing more training with the community.”

        Under the new plan, CPOP training will be extended to all levels of the department — from patrol to detectives to specialized units.

        At the same time, residents — through community councils — will also get CPOP training.

        “It's one thing to say this is a problem,” Lt. Powell said. “Now, let's go through the steps to do some problem solving.”

        Reporter Jane Prendergast contributed to this story.

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