Rodney Beamon thought he knew everything about Officer Chrissy Fogel the first time he met her.

        She walked into the room in full uniform. Gun. Badge. The same gear all the cops wore when they patrolled the 15-year-old boy's Bond Hill neighborhood, hassling him and his friends.

        Rodney didn't care much for those officers, and he didn't care much for Officer Fogel.

        But all that changed when he started talking to her.

        ''She wasn't like the police I knew,'' Rodney says. ''They're all not as bad as what people make them seem.''

        Throughout the summer, Rodney and Officer Fogel met many times as part of Cincinnati's Study Circles program.

        The community discussion program was launched after the April riots in hopes of improving relations between police and residents, especially those living in black neighborhoods hit hardest by the violence.

        Rodney, an African-American, says he learned not to make snap judgments about someone just because he or she wears a police uniform.

        Officer Fogel says she learned the value of taking the time to explain her job to the young people she sees almost every day on patrol.

        ''It made for a better understanding on both sides,'' says Officer Fogel. ''You see people on the street all the time, but it's just another face. Now, if I see Rodney, I'll stop and shake his hand.''

        Study Circles is a national program that has helped cities across the country deal with tough social issues, from housing and education to law enforcement.

        The circles are made up of about a dozen people from the community, a few police officers and a facilitator who runs the meeting.

        The participants talk about their lives, their jobs and their concerns. ''We found that everyone needs an opportunity to talk,'' says Leslie Jones, the Study Circles program coordinator.

        The summer meetings were part of a pilot program. Another round of meetings begins Sept. 29.

        For Rodney the meetings at first were an opportunity to vent some frustrations about police activity in black neighborhoods.

        He complained about friends being hassled by police and about his own encounter with an officer who cited him for a curfew violation.

        Officer Fogel explained why officers might come across as gruff when they're really just doing their jobs. They have to be on alert, she says. Their lives are on the line.

        ''The more you know somebody as a person,'' she says, ''the less you have that us-against-them mentality.''

        Rodney agrees. He says he's still wary of police, but not as much as before.

        Now, he says, he won't automatically turn and walk the other way every time he sees an officer in uniform. It might be someone he knows.

        (For more information about Study Circles, call (513) 352-3237.

ONLINE EXTRA: Complete poll results and PDF of the report
Respect at core of police debate
People want safety, but with respect
Contact can ease suspicion
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