Some say the wave of violence that has washed over Cincinnati neighborhoods since the April rioting has turned the tide of public opinion toward the police.

        But many in Cincinnati's black community say there was never any tide to turn.

        African-American citizens, they say, want now and have wanted all along the same thing white citizens want — safe streets where they can work and raise their families in peace.

        But, they say, they want something that many believe they do not get consistently from officers of the Cincinnati Police Division — respect.

        “I can't imagine who started this idea that black folks don't support the police,” said the Rev. Rousseau O'Neal of the Rockdale Baptist church in Avondale. “Everybody I know calls the police when there is trouble. They want protection. But they want righteous protection.”

        Friday morning, after a week in which seven died in violence, in which a 2-year-old child was the victim of a running gun battle on city streets, and in which a Cincinnati police officer had to shoot to kill, some suggested city police will now get the support they want.

        “There is a push-back,” said Mayor Charlie Luken, hours after Officer Thomas Haas shot and killed 21-year-old Rickey Moore. The suspect was armed with a pump-action shotgun and fired at the officer on a Millvale street.

        “I sense a real swing in community support,” the mayor said. “Citizens want to get back control of their streets.”

        Citizens might well want to see the violence end. Since the protests and riots that tore through Cincinnati neighborhoods in April, 82 people have been shot on 67 occasions; 12 of them were killed.

Police criticized

        The gunfire that rained down on Cincinnati neighborhoods came at a time when police officers were under fire from many in Cincinnati's black communities, who accused them of excessive use of force and a general disrespect for African-American citizens.

        Politicians and community leaders criticized police; hardly a week went by when a black citizen did not get up in a City Council meeting and call Cincinnati police officers murderers.

        Mr. Luken, in the days immediately following the police shooting of 19-year-old Timothy Thomas, which sparked the April rioting, questioned police procedures for use of force and asked that the U.S. Department of Justice come to Cincinnati to investigate police practices and procedures.

        When black activists and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the city over racial profiling by police in March, a majority of City Council voted for a collaborative process to possibly avoid a court battle.

        City Council, on a 8-1 vote, also approved a procedure requiring police officers to collect racial information on every traffic stop. Many believed the council actions sent a signal to police that they didn't have the support of Cincinnati's political establishment.

Attitude adjustment

        Councilman Phil Heimlich, a vocal pro-police advocate who opposed both council actions on racial profiling, said that if there has been a shift in attitude toward police during the recent wave of violence, it has been a shift of politicians, not citizens.

        “I believe most people in Cincinnati have supported the police all along,” Mr. Heimlich said. “It's the politicians who are now catching up.”

        But many in the black community say that their support for the police and for efforts to stop the gunfire in their neighborhoods will not stop them from trying to change police attitudes toward African-Americans.

        The violence and the gunfire could stop tomorrow, said the Rev. Clarence Wallace of Carmel Presbyterian Church in Avondale, but the underlying issues of police community relations would remain.

        “There is nothing inconsistent about wanting police protection and being critical of the practices some police officers use,” the Rev. Mr. Wallace said. “Of course, we want the police to do their jobs in our neighborhoods.

        “I may not like the way the mailman doesn't close the lid on my mailbox, but that doesn't mean I don't want him to deliver my mail,” the Rev. Mr. Wallace said.

        Marilyn Evans, a neighborhood activist in South Cumminsville, said her community council has worked for a decade to improve police-community relations.

        “A lot of it is getting police officers in the community to do simple things like wave at folks and smile and say hello,” Ms. Evans said. “We are trying to build relationships on both sides so people don't meet in an alley some night shooting each other.”

        Councilwoman Alicia Reece said the recent wave of violence, while horrifying and unacceptable, could bring about something positive if it forces residents and police officers to come together.

        “We can use this an opportunity,” Ms. Reece said. “We can learn that we are all, police and citizens, in this together.”

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