The agencies that provide independent review of the Cincinnati Police Department would be abolished and replaced with a Citizen Complaint Authority under a plan being negotiated by city lawyers.

        The proposal, written by the city's Washington, D.C., lawyers and received Monday by Mayor Charlie Luken, is likely to be a key component of two landmark agreements on police-community relations.

        Those settlements, with the U.S. Justice Department over its investigation of the police use of force and the plaintiffs in a racial profiling lawsuit against the city, could come as early as this week.

COMPARISON

Current system   • Office of Municipal Investigation and Citizens Police Review Panel have overlapping jurisdiction.   • Both agencies complain of a lack of staffing and independence.   • Citizens panel can only review investigations completed by other agencies.   Proposed system   • A single agency, to be called the Citizen Complaint Authority, would investigate complaints of police misconduct and track trends.   • A “Board of Citizens” would provide openness and citizen involvement.   • Professional staff would give the agency investigatory muscle.

        The creation of a new oversight agency — to investigate police shootings, excessive force complaints and other allegations of police misconduct — is the first element of the secret negotiations to be released publicly in any detail.

        The new agency would replace the Citizens Police Review Panel, created in 1998, and the Office of Municipal Investigation, created in 1981.

        City officials hope the new agency would combine the openness and citizen participation of the CPRP with the investigatory muscle of OMI.

        Unlike either of those agencies, a central responsibility of the new body would be to look beyond individual cases for patterns of police misconduct, and make recommendations to the Police Department.

        The current system is plagued by confusion over the jurisdiction of those competing agencies, a backlog of cases and a lack of follow-up, said William R. “Billy” Martin, the city's special counsel, in a 15-page report to the city solicitor Monday.

        Mr. Luken said the issues could be reduced to three words: “understandability, timeliness and accountability.”

        “The public does not understand the process. This will simplify it,” Mr. Luken said. “We will make the lines of accountability clearer, so the Citizens Police Review Panel, the city manager and the Office of Municipal Investigation aren't all blocking one another.”

        The Citizens Police Review Panel suspended operations last week, with the Rev. Paula M. Jackson, the panel's chairwoman, citing vacancies on the board and a lack of adequate staff.

        That panel, created after the fatal police shooting of an escaped mental patient who confronted officers with a brick, had a limited mission: to review investigations already completed by other agencies. Almost since its beginning, panel members have complained about resistance from the police and a lack of support from the city manager.

        While the new agency would have investigatory power that the previous panel lacked, it remains unclear whether it would have subpoena power — a tool that some civil rights advocates say is necessary if it's going to have teeth.

        Mr. Martin's proposal says the citizens panel would “ideally” be given subpoena power to compel reluctant witnesses to testify. If not, the agency could still request that City Council use its subpoena power. Also, police officers would be required to testify truthfully as a condition of employment.

        The new Citizen Complaint Authority would be led by a “Board of Citizens” appointed by the mayor after seeking nominations from the city's 52 neighborhood community councils. At least one member would have law enforce ment experience, and new board members would be required to complete a training program of up to 90 days.

        The new agency would have a staff of professional investigators, led by an executive director hired by the city manager. The number of investigators and the agency's annual budget are yet to be determined.

        Mr. Luken said Monday that he has asked members of Cincinnati's congressional delegation for $12 million to help pay for start-up costs, including $7 million to create a computer database to track complaints against officers and $5 million to upgrade computers and video cameras in cruisers.

        Police Chief Tom Streicher said last week that a cruiser videotape — showing Officer Stephen Roach running in the moment before he shot Timothy Thomas last April — provided key evidence that Officer Roach had lied.

        The new agency would also operate under strict time lines. New complaints would be assigned to an investigator within 48 hours, and the agency would complete most cases within 90 days.

        Some of the people most interested in police oversight — the plaintiffs in the racial profiling lawsuit and the Fraternal Order of Police — declined to comment Monday. A gag order in the federal lawsuit prohibits them from commenting publicly.

        Plaintiff's lawyer Ken Lawson, attorney for the Black United Front, said the issue belongs in the racial profiling settlement talks.

        “We've always felt it should be part of the collaborative process because if it's not being funded, or if it's not fulfilling its mission, there needs to be a process to make sure that's accomplished.”

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