Representatives of Cincinnati's Fraternal Order of Police union say officers have the same right as civilians to complain about abuse. To that end, police are planning to compile complaints against citizens who may not commit crimes but have disrespected officers in other ways, such as directing foul language at them.

        Donald Hardin, an attorney representing the police union, said a plan to record the name, age, race, address and phone numbers of disrespectful citizens is allowable under terms of the city's collaborative agreement.

        The agreement — signed in April to settle a class-action lawsuit over alleged racial profiling by Cincinnati police — is still awaiting approval by a federal judge.

        “It's a part of the agreement that police officers can document unfavorable actions that are taken against them,” Mr. Hardin said. “One of the things we have to recognize is that there are things that don't rise to the level of a crime but can still be reported by the police.”

        According to the agreement, Cincinnati Police can report “unfavorable conduct by citizens in encounters with the police.” The reports would be used to evaluate police-community relations in different neighborhoods, and could include the race, gender and national origin of a citizen.

        But the agreement offers no specific guidelines or authorization for police to file complaints against citizens by name.

        In fact, the agreement includes a clause that says reports against citizens that are not about crimes “shall not carry personal identifiers.”

        Al Gerhardstein, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the racial-profiling lawsuit filed last year by the Cincinnati Black United Front and the American Civil Liberties Union, said: “It's wrong to think that we are chasing citizens down just because they said "mother------' to the police.

        “Officers cannot file complaints against named citizens for conduct that does not amount to a crime,” Mr. Gerhardstein said. “That's something reserved for citizens to do under the civilian complaint authority.”

        While there are no steps outlined for police complaints against citizens in the agreement, it does call for Cincinnati Police to install an elaborate computer system and staff for recording and tracking complaints by residents against police.

        U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott is to hear final arguments on the agreement July 18.

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