• April 7, 2001: Cincinnati Officer Stephen Roach, who had been pursuing 19-year-old Timothy Thomas in Over-the-Rhine, shoots and kills the unarmed African-American at 13th and Republic streets. Mr. Thomas is the 15th African-American to die in confrontations with Cincinnati police since 1995.

        • April 9: A group of citizens takes over a City Council committee meeting, demanding to know why Mr. Thomas was shot. That night, protesters break City Hall windows and gather outside police headquarters on Ezzard Charles Drive.

        • April 10: Civil unrest turns violent; protesters overturn planters and hot dog stands, break windows, and pull several white motorists from their cars and assault them.

        • April 11: Random violence — arson, assault, looting, property destruction and shooting — occurs in communities from Over-the-Rhine to Norwood. A Cincinnati police officer is shot, but his belt buckle deflects the bullet and he is not injured. A Justice Department team arrives in the city to investigate whether it should begin a civil-rights investigation into the “patterns and practices” of Cincinnati's Police Division.

        • April 12: Mayor Charlie Luken declares a state of emergency and a citywide curfew beginning at 8 p.m. It ends after four nights, with calm restored.

        • April 14: Mr. Thomas is buried.

        • May 2: City Manager John Shirey agrees to resign effective Dec. 1. Also, city council agrees to an unprecedented attempt to settle through mediation a federal lawsuit that accuses police of racial profiling.

        May 7: A Hamilton County grand jury indicts Officer Roach on charges of negligent homicide and obstructing official business, both misdemeanors. The U.S. Justice Department announces a formal investigation into Cincinnati police's alleged pattern of excessive force violating the civil rights of residents.

        • June 30: Nearly two months after Officer Roach was indicted, arrests are down 35 percent compared with May and June 2000. Revenue from traffic tickets is down significantly. Judges and lawyers report lighter dockets as fewer defendants appear in court.

        Sept. 17: Officer Roach's bench trial before Municipal Court Judge Ralph E. “Ted” Winkler begins.

        Sept. 26: Judge Winkler finds Officer Roach not guilty, after considering evidence from a six-day trial. There are scattered Dumpster fires and rocks thrown.

        Oct. 24: The Justice Department outlines its initial recommendations, including these broad topics: use of force policy, use of force reporting, public accountability, monitoring and auditing, and training.

        Jan. 4: Officer Roach resigns from Cincinnati police to take a job in the suburban Cincinnati village of Evendale.

        Jan. 20: Culminating several weeks of protests, about 150 people, including members of Cincinnati Black United Front, rally outside the Evendale Municipal Complex in opposition to the hiring of Officer Roach.

        Jan. 22: Officer Roach begins work as an Evendale police officer.

        Feb. 8: Evendale Village Council makes public a second legal opinion that says the hiring of Officer Roach, as an administrative action, is not subject to a public referendum, as requested by some residents there.

        Feb. 19: Officer Roach's first arrest in Evendale is of a bank robbery suspect who surrenders without incident.

        March 19: Cincinnati police internal report is released. It says Officer Roach's shooting of Mr. Thomas was an accident. However, he should not have run with his finger on the trigger and shouldn't have lied about the shooting.

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