By Gregory Korte
and Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Kalmanoff

The U.S. Department of Justice warned Cincinnati on Monday that the city's treatment of Dr. Alan Kalmanoff - the police reform monitor who resigned last week in a spat over his bills - could lead to problems if future monitors aren't given more respect.

Neither the Justice Department nor the city would release the letter Monday. But Mayor Charlie Luken described it as a "slap on the wrist."

"It just says we were out of line in how we dealt with Dr. Kalmanoff," Mr. Luken said. "They're only telling us this to make sure that as we pick another monitor, we're kinder and gentler. I think they feel that we somehow weren't allowed to do what we did."

Dr. Kalmanoff, director of the Institute for Law and Policy Planning in Berkeley, Calif., was appointed by U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott to oversee Cincinnati's two landmark police reform agreements.

One is a memorandum of understanding with the Justice Department on police use of force; the other is a settlement with the Cincinnati Black United Front and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio over alleged racial profiling. Both agreements were signed in April, one year after the riots that followed the police shooting of a 19-year-old man in Over-the-Rhine.

After Dr. Kalmanoff submitted an invoice for $55,241, City Council accused him of overstepping his bounds and unanimously voted to seek his ouster. He resigned a week later.

Justice Department officials would not discuss their letter to the city Monday, but said the selection of a monitor remains a priority.

In its dealings with other cities, the department has occasionally sent letters expressing concern about compliance with court-supervised settlements. Typically, those letters stop short of declaring the city in "noncompliance" with the settlement, but warn that such a declaration is possible if the situation does not improve.

"The department is still working with the city to select an independent monitor and to ensure that the provisions of the agreement are followed," said Justice Department spokeswoman Casey Stavropoulos.

Mr. Luken, one of Dr. Kalmanoff's chief critics, said the Justice Department letter is unlikely to change the city's stance as it prepares for a meeting Friday with the other parties in the court-supervised collaborative agreement on racial profiling.

"It seems as though the Kalmanoff experience taught us something, and we should be ready to move forward together on the 22nd. All the parties ought to assess the collaborative spirit," he said. "But I don't expect to be silent if I have problems with the monitor or the way the collaborative is implemented."

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com and dhorn@enquirer.com