By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

EVENDALE - During the past two years, Stephen Roach has quietly worked to put behind him the incident that ignited Cincinnati's 2001 street violence and nearly ended his career: the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man during a chase in Over-the-Rhine.

He endured widespread notoriety and the stress of a criminal trial that resulted in his acquittal.

Even after officials in this northern Hamilton County village hired him as a police officer after he quit the Cincinnati force in January 2002, controversy followed him. Some Evendale residents protested the hiring and tried to force a referendum.

But Roach persisted. His supervisors recently named him Evendale's "Police Officer of the Year." Police Chief Gary Foust presented the annual award to Roach last week at an Evendale Chamber of Commerce dinner.

It's a dramatic indicator of a turnaround in a career that seemed in doubt after Roach killed 19-year-old Timothy Thomas on April 7, 2001.

Foust called Roach "a model for other members of the department."

He praised him for his productivity, positive attitude, leadership and his kind, caring demeanor.

This year, Roach has made 72 of the department's 107 DUI arrests and has issued 694 of the department's 1,648 traffic citations, Foust said.

"He is a very conscientious officer who dots his i's and crosses his t's," he said. "While he's an enforcer of the law, he's also very compassionate. His personnel folder is filled with letters from individuals praising him for his concern and compassion."

Mayor Don Apking, said he's "very, very proud" of him.

"He deserved the award because of the amount of professionalism that he puts into his job," Apking said. "It's not just all the tickets he's given out. He's a hard-working young man. We've never had any complaints about any of the tickets that he's written."

Roach was out of town Friday and unavailable for comment.

Stephen Roach biography

Age: 29

Education: 1992 - Graduated from Talawanda High School in Oxford; 1996 - Graduated from the University of Dayton, where he played football, with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. 1997 - graduated from the Cincinnati Police Academy.

Professional experience: 1994 - Began working part-time as a firefighter and emergency medical technician for the Oxford Fire Department; 1995 - Began working part-time as a dispatcher for the Oxford police. 1997 - Hired by the Cincinnati Police Department. 2002 - Hired as an Evendale police officer.

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E-mail skemme@enquirer.com