A sitting Ohio Supreme Court justice wants the job of overseeing reforms to Cincinnati's police department and installing an untested system of police-community relations over the next five years.

        Justice Andrew Douglas is one of 11 applicants to submit proposals for monitoring the landmark settlements that ended a federal investigation of the police department and stopped a racial profiling lawsuit against the city.

MONITOR APPLICANTS

These 11 applicants have submitted proposals to serve as monitors in Cincinnati over the next five years. In the next 87 days, one applicant will be selected.     • PSComm, public safety consulting firm, Rockville, Md.     • Institute for Law & Policy Planning, Berkeley, Calif.     • Doar, Reick & Mack, law firm, New York.     • The Minnick Law Firm, Tallahassee, Fla.     • KPMG, New York.     • Rodriguez & Associates, planning, management and information technology, Annandale, Va.     • Andrew Douglas, justice, Ohio Supreme Court, Columbus.     • Nixon Peabody, law firm, Washington, D.C.     • Watrous, Ehlers, Mielke & Goodwin, Littleton, Colo.     • The Alexandria Group of MPRI, law enforcement and legal professionals, Alexandria, Va.     • Kroll Inc., risk consulting firm, Washington, D.C.

        Justice Douglas, 69, is a Republican who cannot run for re-election in November because of his age. He is the only Ohio candidate and the only person who submitted an individual application.

        The other 10 come from law firms, consulting groups, auditing firms and security companies from California to New York. At least one of those has been named as finalist for monitoring jobs in two other cities and one is the monitor of police in Los Angeles.

        “I have not looked at them. We have not begun the selection process,” said S. Gregory Baker, executive manager of the city's new police relations office. “We have 90 days from Monday.”

        The deadline for submitting an application was Monday. But city officials did not release the list of applicants until late Wednesday, following repeated requests by The Cincinnati Enquirer.

        City Manager Valerie Lemmie sent a memo to council members and the mayor that is dated for Monday, June 17. In it she lists all applicants by name, but provided no details about the proposals.

        “Our hope is to interview three to five people,” Mr. Baker said. “We are looking for someone with law enforcement experience, someone who has the technical expertise to review the documents we will be submitting.”

        The monitor must be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice, the police union, the city and plaintiffs in the racial profiling lawsuit.

        Mr. Baker said he expects each group to select three candidates; any candidates who make all four lists will be brought in for an interview.

        Justice Douglas, who could not be reached for comment, turns 70 in July. That is the age justices must retire. He has been the swing vote on many controversial court rulings, and Wednesday joined the majority in reinstating the city of Cincinnati's lawsuit against gun manufacturers.

        Justice Douglas is part of a bipartisan majority on the court that the Ohio Chamber of Commerce calls anti-business.That majority also has ruled that the school funding system is unconstitutional.

        Don Mielke, whose Colorado firm was a finalist for monitoring police agencies in Los Angeles and Washington, said his team is made up of former police supervisors, former prosecutors, professors and civil rights experts.

        “We like to joke that we're made up of retired, former has-beens,” he said. “We have got contacts and we know who the good players are. We also have civil rights experts on our team.”

        He said he is intrigued by Cincinnati's settlements, which combine police and community oversight.

        The monitor's job is to review police patterns and practices, including new ways to watch individual officers and track use of force, citizen complaints and discipline. The monitor will also oversee efforts by activists to help end crime.

        Mr. Mielke's firm lost its Los Angeles bid to Kroll Inc., which has also applied in Cincinnati and describes itself as a risk consulting firm.

        Kroll's Web site says it's “professionals have backgrounds in law and law enforcement, forensic accounting, information technology, engineering, and management consulting.”

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