Efforts to implement reforms of the Cincinnati Police Department began Thursday as Mayor Charlie Luken announced his plans to fill a seven-member oversight board.

        The Citizen Complaint Authority will investigate major cases of alleged police misconduct and will replace two agencies that now fill that role: the Office of Municipal Investigation and the Citizens Police Review Panel.

        The new agency must be set up by Aug. 9 under an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department on excessive force, record-keeping and oversight.

        Mr. Luken will seek nominations from neighborhood groups and take out ads in newspapers.

        Application deadline is May 31. Members will be required to submit to a background check and attend intensive training sessions.

        The job pays $100 a meeting — $125 for the chairman.

        Mr. Luken pledged to appoint a diverse panel.

        “I will look for balance. I will look for fairness. I will look for people with good judgment,” he said.

        “I understand that people come through life with different experiences. I don't expect a unanimity of thought.”

        City Manager Valerie Lemmie will appoint an executive director to head the authority's investigative staff. That person is likely to be Mark Gissiner, the OMI director who will head the transition to the new agency.

        Unlike the old panel, which could only review investigations completed by other agencies, the new Citizens Complaint Authority will have the power and the staff to investigate complaints and track trends.

        However, the ordinance creating the authority stops short of giving it subpoena power, a tool that critics have urged to give the panel more independence.

        “This is not a get-the-cops commission,” Mr. Luken said. “This is accountability.”

        Assistant Police Chief Richard S. Biehl said police welcome the “evolution of citizen review.”

        Lt. Col. Biehl was filling in Thursday for Chief Tom Streicher, who was in Washington meeting with Justice Department officials in an attempt to get federal funding for the reforms.

        Mr. Luken thanked members of the Citizens Police Review Panel, which has effectively ceased operations. Most remaining panel members said they would consider serving on the new board.

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