British riots spread on third night of violence (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Rioting and looting spread across London on Monday as hooded youths set buildings and cars ablaze, smashed shop windows and hurled bottles and stones at police in a third night of violence in Britain's worst unrest in decades.

Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his holiday to fly home to tackle the violence, which appeared to be led by youths alienated by years of underemployment which left them feeling marginalized even before the economic downturn.

"It's been building up for years. All it needed was a spark," said E. Nan, a young man in a baseball cap surrounded by other youths in Hackney in east London. "We ain't got no jobs, no money ... We heard that other people were getting things for free, so why not us?"

The violence erupted late on Saturday in London's northern Tottenham district when a peaceful protest over the police shooting of a suspect two days earlier turned violent.

By Monday, the violence had spread to parts of the south of the city, including Clapham Junction, one of London's busiest railway junctions, Woolwich in the capital's southeast and the Ealing area of west London.

Attackers also smashed shops and looted property in the city of Birmingham in central England, police said, in the first sign of the riots spreading beyond the capital.

In Hackney, a multi-ethnic area in east London close to the site of next year's Olympic Games, hooded youths set fire to rubbish bins and pushed them down a street toward police, while hurling bottles and bricks.

Many laughed as they ran back when police charged them.

In a street thick with smoke, looters smashed their way into a local shop, stealing whisky and beer. One man grabbed a packet of cereal, another ran off laughing with four bottles of whisky.

"I am from South Africa and it reminds me of the riots there, except the police here are not so rough," said one middle-aged local resident, who declined to give his name.

"But the kids don't have any respect for the police or for property. It's sad for the people who live round here."

In Peckham, a poor area of south London, flames leapt into the air from a torched building and rubble was strewn across the street.

A Reuters witness saw two people breaking into a shop and ripping a 50-inch plasma television off the wall. A youth in a balaclava carried the screen away and received a round of applause from the watching crowd.

Cameron's office said he would cut short his holiday in Italy to chair a crisis meeting, amid growing calls from the public for officials to take control of the situation.

Even before Monday night's violence, police had arrested 215 people, according to Home Secretary Theresa May.

"The violence we've seen, the looting we've seen, the thuggery we've seen, this is sheer criminality ... these people will be brought to justice, they will be made to face the consequences of their actions," she said.

"SENSELESS"

Despite a heavy presence on some streets, police appeared unable to contain the violence as rioters who had initially coordinated through mobile phones and Twitter became increasingly confident.

Monday's looting began long before nightfall when workers were returning home, many of them forced to walk as buses to areas hit by rioting were canceled.

In Hackney, youths in brown hoods posed for pictures in front of a burning car on a street corner. Others swarmed around a skip full of bricks and gathered them up.

"I don't know why they are doing this," said a middle-aged woman who lived nearby. "It's senseless ... they are just cacking on their own doorstep."

The BBC said the Hackney clashes broke out after police stopped and searched a man.

In Clapham, another Reuters witness saw dozens of youths walking in all directions with looted television sets and other electrical goods. He heard two of them discussing the number of Playstation 3s they had stolen, and shouting at another young man to return and get more.

Looters hid their stolen goods in bins and behind the low walls of the Victorian terraced houses typical of Clapham. A large pile of boxed Blackberry phones rested by one wall.

Government officials branded rioters as opportunistic criminals and said the violence would not affect preparations for next summer's Olympic Games.

But the television pictures of rioting and blazing buildings, combined with disarray in the transport network, were likely to dent the capital's image as Britain struggles to avoid an economic recession.

Youths appeared to have used a free message service on Blackberry mobile phones to coordinate attacks on shops and police.

Research In Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of Blackberry smartphones, said it would work with British authorities, but gave no details on what information, if any, it would give the police.

Some have described the disturbances as a cry for help from poor areas reeling from the government's harsh austerity cuts to tackle a big budget deficit, with youth services and other facilities cut back sharply.

"It's very sad to see ... But kids have got no work, no future and the cuts have made it worse. These kids are from another generation to us and they just don't care," said Anthony Burns, 39, an electrician from Hackney. "You watch. It's only just begun."

Officials said there was no excuse.

"It was needless, opportunistic theft and violence, nothing more, nothing less. It is completely unacceptable," said Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft, Mohammed Abbas, Matt Falloon, Avril Ormsby and Jon Hemming; Writing by Myra MacDonald, editing by Tim Pearce)

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Tear gas fired in Australian immigration riots (AFP)

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian police fired tear gas, sound and flash weapons and "bean bag" bullets to quell overnight riots at the troubled Christmas Island immigration detention centre.

Immigration authorities said about 50 detainees were involved in the disturbance, which saw fires lit and police threatened with makeshift weapons at the centre, some 2,600 kilometres (1,600 miles) from Australia's mainland.

"(Police) members made a number of attempts to defuse and de-escalate the situation, but these were not successful," a police spokeswoman told AFP Wednesday.

"Members had cause to deploy a range of use of force options, including less-lethal munitions (such as) bean bag rounds, (tear) gas, and sound and flash distraction devices."

"Bean bag" bullets are small cushions filled with lead shot that are fired from a shotgun, designed to temporarily disable targets.

It is the second time in as many months serious riots have rocked the remote centre, which is the cornerstone of Australia's mandatory detention policy for refugees and home to 600 boat arrivals.

Some of the group escaped their compounds but an immigration spokesman said there was "no breach of the perimeter fence" and police had brought the incident under control without any injuries.

One detainee was arrested and another was still staging a rooftop protest, with police remaining on site, the spokesman added.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said computers in the centre's medical clinic were destroyed and said anyone found guilty of crimes in detention could be shipped home under strict new character laws on visas.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard echoed his warnings.

"If you commit a criminal offence it will count against you," Gillard said.

"You don't get any changes to the process and treatment of your claims by misbehaving."

Australia's immigration facilities are under strain from a record influx of boatpeople last year -- almost 6,900 -- and tensions have run high in crowded centres on both Christmas Island and at Villawood, in Sydney.

Up to 100 detainees rioted on the Indian Ocean island last month, and another 250 were involved in violent protests there in March over the slow processing of asylum claims, with some locked up for 18 months or more.

Nine buildings were torched in wild riots the following month at Villawood that involved up to 100 detainees.

Bowen said 30 people had been charged over those disturbances.

Australia's mandatory detention policy has been criticised by human rights groups and the UN's refugee agency, with depression and suicide major concerns.

Refugees are a thorny issue in Australia, despite their relatively small numbers and the fact that many who arrive in leaky boats from Asia have fled strife in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Iraq.

Canberra has announced a controversial refugee swap with Malaysia in a bid to slow the flow of boats, and Bowen said it had been an effective deterrent though the "operational finer details" were still being hammered out.

"We've already seen a substantial reduction in the number of boat arrivals to Australia in recent times," said Bowen.

"I don't say that the announcement of the Malaysia arrangement is entirely responsible for that (but) clearly our very clear message through the region has had some impact."

Boats fell from 134 last year to 28 in the six months to June 30, carrying 1,675 arrivals.

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Myanmar government warns Suu Kyi planned tour could cause riots (Reuters)

YANGON (Reuters) – A possible tour of Myanmar by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could cause riots, state media warned on Wednesday, implying she would be responsible for her own safety.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi is planning her first trip outside the former capital Yangon since she was freed from home detention last year just after elections to end army rule.

The military still effectively controls the government.

"Her followers and supporters are gushing that the icon must keep in touch with the public. They seem willing to exploit the public. They also propagate that the government is responsible for security of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on her trip," a commentary in all three official newspapers said.

"We are deeply concerned that if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi makes trips to countryside regions, there may be chaos and riots, as evidenced by previous incidents," it added.

"Daw" is an honorific in Myanmar for women.

In 2003, in an episode now known as the Depayin Massacre, Suu Kyi's motorcade was attacked by pro-junta thugs and 70 of her supporters died in what was seen as an assassination attempt.

"The government has said that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is just an ordinary public member, so it will not restrict her from traveling and doing things in accordance with the law, but she shall honor the laws for the rule of law," the commentary read.

Suu Kyi, 66, has not announced any dates for the tour, nor an itinerary.

Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was officially dissolved last year when it refused to register for elections held in November. Suu Kyi was released from seven years of house arrest a week after the vote.

Official media, which act as a mouthpiece for the government, also said on Wednesday the government had warned the NLD "not to harm peace and stability" and to respect the law.

"If they really want to accept and practice democracy effectively, they are to stop such acts that can harm peace and stability and the rule of law as well as the unity among the people including monks and service personnel," the letter said, according to state media.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win confirmed a letter had been received. "We got that letter yesterday but we still have not talked it over and decided what to do about it," he said.

The newspapers said the letter accused the party of keeping its headquarters and various offices open and organizing meetings even through it had been dissolved.

"Such acts are not only against the law but also tantamount to opposing the Hluttaws (legislature)," they said.

(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Alan Raybould and Daniel Magnowski)

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China 'jeans capital' tense after riots

Xintang, China (CNN) -- Noisy traffic and bustling crowds returned to the streets of Xintang on Friday after days of rioting by migrant workers, but security remained heavy in this industrial town in southern China that produces almost half of the jeans sold in the United States.

Police and guards were manning checkpoints at major intersections, questioning some drivers. Anti-riot police patrolled the streets as propaganda vans touted the importance of stability. Fire trucks with high-pressure water cannons stood ready to deal with potential unrest.

Authorities have arrested 19 men, including nine teenagers, on charges related to the riots, the local government said on its website.

Outside the Longjiafu supermarket, where a scuffle between two street vendors and town officials triggered the unrest on June 10, people were reluctant to recount the incident to foreign reporters.

Witnesses and media reports said local officials beat up a pregnant migrant worker and her husband, pushing the woman to the ground. Mass protests ensued, quickly spiraling to violent clashes with government forces that spread to other parts of Xintang, a city of 400,000 residents, almost half of them migrant workers.

Photos posted online showed torched police cars and government offices by angry demonstrators. Witnesses told CNN of looting and other violence at night. Anti-riot police and paramilitary troops were sent in, reportedly using tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Although local authorities put the number of "troublemakers" at several hundred, tens of thousands are said to have taken to the streets during three days of riots, some of the worst seen in China in years.

Zhang Jihe, who owns a jeans factory that churns out up to one million pairs a year, said he hoped to see things return to normal soon, especially in light of an already-tough business climate.

"Our production cost has gone up," Zhang said. "Workers' wages are higher, fabric and other materials are pricier."

At a labor market next to Xintang High School, now a makeshift anti-riot command center, migrant workers also saw a darker future in this export-oriented town.

"Factories are not getting enough orders," said Tan Zhijian, 33, who has worked in clothing factories in Xintang for 17 years. "Many owners owe workers back pay. Some just run away."

Although they did not get involved in the riots, the workers at the job market say they share the frustrations of the street vendors whose treatment by officials unleashed the turmoil.

For years, booming industries in southern China, particularly Guangdong province where Xintang is located, have attracted millions of migrant workers from poor rural provinces looking to find factory jobs and a better life.

Mirroring the rest of the country, a slowdown in economic growth here is now stoking social tensions in various dimensions --- rural versus urban, ethnic minority against majority, and haves versus have have-nots.

"The people who were being squeezed now feel like they are being squeezed even more, to the point where they can't bear it anymore," said Patrick Chovanec, a political analyst with Tsinghua University in Beijing. He said China's one-party system fails to provide people with a proper mechanism to air grievances or resolve disputes.

"When those violent outbreaks do take place, especially in light of what's happened with the Arab Spring, the government feels the need to simply throw in the use of force," he added.

Back in Xintang, authorities are taking no chances. Propaganda officials stopped CNN from filming on the streets and questioned the journalists in their office for an hour. The team was ordered to leave the town just as night was falling --- the time local residents have said when the risk of rioting is highest.

China's riot town: 'No one else is listening'

CNN

Vancouver Riots: Hockey Fans Stick It to Their Own City (Time.com)

Updated: June 16, 2011, 3 p.m. E.T.

The police in Vancouver did little at first when drunken and angry sports fans took to making sport of the streets of the city. It all started with the flipping of a car on Georgia Street inside one of the outdoor spectator zones set up to watch the seventh and deciding game of the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup championship between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins. The voluble disappointment over the local team's 0-4 defeat at the hands of the American team had a cheeky undertone to it in the beginning, the crowd entertained by the flipping of the car, by the people who dance on top of the tumbled vehicle, friends tweeting friends about the incident, laughing. Then the glee turned nasty. Fires were lit in trash bins; garbage was hurled at the police. Violence begat violence. The angry fans took apart the blue fencing used to demarcate an alcohol-free zone, turning it into riot gear to use to push back against the shields of the police.

It was only 8 p.m. in British Columbia when the mayhem started. The sun was still shining, but black smoke was rising everywhere. More than a dozen cars were torched, including at least two police vehicles that had also been flipped. The fire deparment was unable to move in to extinguish the flames. Suddenly, lawlessness became the law, and countless mainly young fans chose to obey the new dictum. Crowds started doing more than just flipping cars and throwing debris at police: they smashed glass storefronts and looted stores, including the Bay department store, stealing everything from clothing to chairs to cosmetics. (See pictures of the hockey riots in Vancouver.)

More uniformed officers arrived on the scene, and then the first tear-gas canisters and flash grenades were launched to disorient and disperse the mobs. It was a tall order. The city had invited more than 100,000 fans to gather on the streets of Vancouver to watch the game on four giant screens on the closed-off streets. Precautions had been taken: more than 2,000 liquor pour-outs took place, and alcohol sales were prohibited before game time. But many of the fans still somehow got the fuel to ignite their already fiery passions over hockey. "We shut the liquor stores down and were patting down people," said Vancouver police chief constable Jim Chu on Thursday, "But it is clear the alcohol was at an extremely high level." He said that earlier on Wednesday, he and his officers had run into a group of 16-year-olds drinking heavily.

The Vancouver police department would need three hours and reinforcements to stop the mayhem. Police marched in full riot gear. Cops from around the region sent extra officers to help quell the madness. British Columbia solicitor general Shirley Bond took to the airwaves to urge people to leave downtown. "What is most disappointing and disturbing is that we have spectators who will not go home," she said. "We need them to leave the downtown, and they need to stop treating this as a spectator sport." (Vancouver's Stanley Cup Craze: Grown Men in Full-Body Spandex)

Blood sport. People were seen walking the street with bloodstained clothing. Hospitals reported treating stabbing victims as well as those affected by the tear gas. The streets were littered with debris, the air suffused with a pungent scent of trash fires, burning cars and tear gas. Rioters covered their faces with T-shirts and scarves both to protect their noses and eyes and to conceal their identities. Not all the fans in the street, of course, turned to crime. Many of the would-be partyers showed horror on their faces - some wandering aimlessly, unsure of whether to stay and watch the unfolding violence or to flee. Shooting video on their iPhones was no longer fun.

Chu speculated that some of the trouble may have been planned. "You don't burn a car unless you come to an event with incendiary devices," he said at a Thursday-morning press conference. He said the rioters appeared to be equipped with masks, goggles, gasoline, wrenches and fire extinguishers. Several police officers were treated for human bites.

The city of more than 600,000 people on Canada's Pacific coast was in shock. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson called the situation "embarrassing and shameful" and praised the Vancouver police and fire departments for doing an "exceptional job under challenging circumstances." Chu raised the question of parental and broader societal responsibility. "Where were your kids?" he asked. "How drunk were they?" In the Canucks' locker room, an already dejected Henrik Sedin, Vancouver's captain, had to explain why his team fell apart in the loss and then say what he thought of the city's falling apart too. "It's terrible," he said. "This city and province has a lot to be proud of. It's too bad." One thing to take solace in: the rioting this time lasted three hours less than when the local team lost the Stanley Cup finals in 1994 after another Game 7. The looting this time, however, was much more intense.

Now comes a different type of police work for Vancouver. Officers videotaped the rioting while it was in progress. London Drugs, a shop damaged in the looting, said its security cameras had "sharp, clean images of the 200-plus rioters that ransacked the store." Meanwhile, thousands of spectators snapped photos and posted videos from the pockets of disturbance downtown. The Vancouver police has a process for allowing the public to share - even anonymously - images from the riots, inviting people to send everything to robbery@vpd.ca. "The response from the public wanting to help the police identify the individuals involved in [Wednesday] night's criminal activity has been overwhelming," says Vancouver constable Lindsey Houghton. "We are grateful for everyone's help." Social media may help bring antisocial behavior to justice.

Vancouver Minute: The Hockey Team Wears Heels

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 1: One Bite, One Goal

View this article on Time.com

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Vancouver riots blamed on anarchists

(CNN) -- Hours after a crushing Stanley Cup defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins, Vancouver residents on Thursday were trying to come to terms with the reasons their city had again exploded in riots.

"It's totally unlike Vancouver," said Jennifer Richie, bar manager at the Wicklow Public House bar and restaurant. "Just too many people had too much to drink."

She said fire and smoke billowed in and around adjoining neighborhoods near Rogers Arena, where hundreds of angry hockey fans rampaged after the loss.

"I'm a little ashamed to live in Vancouver right now."

The incident echoed a 1994 Vancouver riot after a Stanley Cup loss to the New York Rangers, which caused widespread damage that resulted in hundreds of arrests.

Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu is blaming "criminals and anarchists" who, he said, disguised themselves as Canucks fans for the riots.

"These were people who came equipped with masks, goggles and gasoline, even fire extinguishers that they would use as weapons," Chu said of Wednesday night's melee.

Nearly 100 people were arrested, according to Deputy Mayor Raymond Louie. Fifteen vehicles were damaged after the home team lost the hockey championship to the Boston Bruins.

"We have more than 100 tips that include video and photographs of the individuals involved in the riot," Louie said Thursday. "We will investigate and prosecute individuals involved in last night's activities. They do not represent Vancouver, and we thank the people that came out this morning to help clean the streets."

Among unofficial Facebook pages set up after the violence was one soliciting cleanup help and another asking readers to report riot "morons."

One city restaurant manager called the turmoil "disappointing."

"I'm proud to be from Vancouver," said Courtney Rose, manager of the Boat House restaurant. "I've grown up thinking we are a peaceful city in western Canada, not the kind of people who destroy property and fight with police in the streets."

Rose said she and other residents avoided downtown parts of the city after smelling tear gas in areas surrounding the arena.

Public transportation was also restricted during the riot, she said, which temporarily prevented residents from entering parts of the city.

The melee began after the Bruins won their first NHL championship in 39 years, trouncing the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 Wednesday night.

"It's absolutely disgraceful and shameful," Mayor Gregor Robertson told CNN affiliate CTV. "It by no means represents the city of Vancouver."

He called the rioters "despicable" after hundreds of mostly young people took to the streets and set overturned vehicles ablaze.

Some disappointed fans and rioters stopped and posed in front of the flames. Others danced atop an overturned vehicle as a cloud of gray smoke hung over downtown.

Aerial footage showed city police wading into the unruly crowd that taunted and threw debris at the officers a few blocks from arena.

After dropping the first two games in Vancouver, the Bruins took four of the last five games from the Canucks, who struggled to stay in Game Seven after going down 1-0 in the first period.

CNN

Vancouver Riots: Hockey Fans Stick It to Their Own City (Time.com)

Updated: June 16, 2011, 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time

The police in Vancouver did little at first, when drunken and angry sports fans took to making sport of the streets of the city. It all started with the flipping of a car on Georgia Street, inside one of the outdoor spectator zones set up to watch the seventh and deciding game of the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup championship between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins. The voluble disappointment over the local team's 0-4 defeat at the hands of the American team had a cheeky undertone to it in the beginning, the crowd entertained by the flipping of the car, by the people who dance on top of the tumbled vehicle, friends tweeting friends about the incident, laughing. Then the glee turned nasty. Fires were lit in trash bins; garbage was hurled at the police. Violence begat violence. The angry fans took apart the blue fences demarcate an alcohol-free zone, turning it into their own riot gear to use to push back against the shields of the police.

It was only 8 p.m. in British Columbia when the mayhem started. The sun was still shining but black smoke was rising everywhere. More than a dozen cars were torched, including at least two police vehicles that had also been flipped. The fire deparment was unable to move in to extinguish the flames. Suddenly, lawlessness became the law and countless, mainly young fans chose to obey the new dictum. Crowds started doing more than just flipping cars and throwing debris at police: they smashed glass storefronts and looted stores, including The Bay department store, stealing everything from clothing to chairs to cosmetics. (See photos of the hockey riots in Vancouver.)

More uniformed officers arrived on the scene; and then the first tear gas cannisters and flash-bang grenades were launched to disorient and disperse the mobs. It was a tall order. The city had invited more than 100,000 fans to gather on the streets of Vancouver to watch the game on four giant screens on the closed-off streets. Precautions had been taken: more than 2,000 liquor pour-outs took place and alcohol sales were prohibited prior to game time. But many of the fans still somehow got the fuel to ignite their already fiery passions over hockey. "We shut the liquor stores down and were pattin down people," said Vancouver Police Chief Constable Jim Chu on Thursday, "But it is clear the alcohol was at an extremely high level." He said that, already earlier on Wednesday, he and his officers had run into a group of 16-year olds drinking heavily.

The Vancouver Police Department would need three hours and reinforcements to stop the mayhem. Police marched in full riot gear. Cops from around the region sent extra offers to help quell the madness. British Columbia Solicitor General Shirley Bond took to the airwaves to urge people to leave downtown. "What is most disappointing and disturbing is that we have spectators who will not go home," she said. "We need them to leave the downtown and they need to stop treating this as a spectator sport."

(Vancouver's Stanley Cup Craze: Grown Men in Full-Body Spandex)

Blood sport. People were seen walking the street with bloodstained clothing. Hospitals reported treating stabbing victims as well as those affected by the police tear gas. The streets were littered with debris; the air suffused with the unexpungeable mix of trash smoke, burning cars and tear gas. Rioters covered their faces with t-shirts and scarves, both to protect their noses and eyes and to conceal their identities. Not all the fans in the street, of course, turned to crime. Many of the would-be partiers exhibited horror on their faces, some wandering aimlessly, unsure of whether to stay and watch the unfolding violence or to flee. Taking video on their iPhones was no longer fun.

Chief Constable Chu speculated that some of the trouble may have been pre-planned. "You don't burn a car unless you come to an event with incendiary devices," he said at a Thursday morning press conference. He said the rioters appeared to be equipped with masks, goggles, gasoline, wrenches and fire-extinguishers. Several police officers were treated for human bites.

The city of more than 600,000 people on Canada's Pacific coast was in shock. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson called the situation "embarrassing and shameful" and praised the Vancouver police and fire departments for doing an "exceptional job under challenging circumstances." Chu raised the question of parental and broader societal responsibility. "Where were your kids?" he asked. "How drunk were they?" Inside the Canucks' locker-room an already dejected Henrik Sedin, Vancouver's captain, had to explain why his team fell apart in the loss and then say what he thought of the city falling apart too. "It's terrible," he said. "This city and province has a lot to be proud of. It's too bad." One thing to take solace over: the rioting this time lasted three hours less than those in 1994 when the local team lost the Stanley Cup finals after another Game 7. The looting this time, however, was much more intense.

Now comes a different type of police work for Vancouver. Officers had videotaped the rioting while it was in progress. London Drugs, a shop damaged in the looting, said its security cameras had "sharp clean images of the 200-plus rioters that ransacked the store." Meanwhile, thousands of spectators both snapped photos and posted video from out of the pockets of disturbances in Vancouver's downtown. Now, the Vancouver Police has its own process for allowing the public to share - even anonymously - images from the riots, inviting people to send everything to robbery@vpd.ca. "The response from the public wanting to help the police identify the individuals involved in [Wednesday] night's criminal activity has been overwhelming," says Vancouver Constable Lindsey Houghton. "We are grateful for everyone's help." Social Media may help bring anti-social behavior to justice.

Vancouver Minute: The Hockey Team Wears Heels

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 1: One Bite, One Goal

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2001 riots led to top-down change for Cincinnati police

By Glenn Hartong/The Cincinnati Enquirer

Sheryl L. Brown with the New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church prays as she stands in front of a line of mounted police officers at Central Parkway and Race Street in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 11, 2001.

EnlargeCloseBy Glenn Hartong/The Cincinnati Enquirer

Sheryl L. Brown with the New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church prays as she stands in front of a line of mounted police officers at Central Parkway and Race Street in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 11, 2001.

Today, they would know that the warrants were for minor infractions, things such as failure to wear a seatbelt.

Also today, they could call for help from an officer specially trained in handling people with mental health problems. They carry Tasers to use as an alternative option to their guns. And they're reminded of a new police department culture that stresses customer service as much as it does catching bad guys.

In the rioting that followed Thomas' death, fires were set around Over-the-Rhine, a police officer was shot but unhurt when the bullet hit his belt buckle, and a citywide curfew was imposed — the first in more than 30 years.

The changes since Thomas' death and the ensuing riots are many. The results have been dramatic.

In the six years before the riots, 15 men — all African-American — died in confrontations with police. In the last 10 years? Eight, six of them black.

Cincinnati officers have been involved in fewer police shootings since 2004 than their counterparts in the larger cities of Cleveland and Columbus as well as Dayton, Toledo and Akron.

The reasons for that decline include everything from technology and training to luck.

Cops are still cops, as Chief Tom Streicher said just before he retired in March. They're adrenaline junkies who have to think fast in dangerous situations.

But the 1,068 working in Cincinnati now, he said, are better trained, more carefully watched and more mindful of the power they wield and the effect it can have on people.

"There's no one single thing you can point to," Streicher said. "There's an improved approach to how we conduct business and it starts with training. We've continued to ask ourselves: Even if an action is right, is there a better way to do business?"

Christopher Smitherman, president of the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP, said the department's foremost change was that it began to understand that "cultural competency" —the ability to interact with people of different cultures — is key.

"You have to start there," he said. "They acknowledged that it's important, that it's not just political correctness."

Tension pre-dated riots

The April 2001 riots often are viewed by many as the beginning of the poor relationship between Cincinnati's black community and the police department. But the tension pre-dated the riots by years, as did a call for police reform.

Harvey Price was the first in a list of what would grow to 15 black men — some of them unarmed — killed in confrontations with police in six years leading up to the riots.

He was shot to death in February 1995 after he killed a 15-year-old girl with an ax and held police at bay for hours. Two months later, the arrest of Pharon Crosby, 18, would exacerbate tensions. Caught on video, it prompted complaints that officers used excessive force.

Police commanders knew distrust was brewing. They started talking about some problems, including racial profiling. In March 2001, Streicher acknowledged that some officers did practice biased policing.

That admission was momentous, a signal that department leadership was willing to listen, said ACLU attorney Scott Greenwood.

The department in 2002 lifted its requirement that recruits be under 35, with officials saying they wanted to diversify the force and boost its maturity.

The riots neither initiated the racial tension nor the police reforms, but accelerated both.

There were several incidents after the riots, too, that fanned the flames, including the 2002 forced retirement of the department's highest-ranking black officer, after he lied about an accident in his city-owned car.

About 30% of Cincinnati officers are African-American now, just slightly more than in 2001. The force's makeup has changed in other ways, though: New hires are encouraged to have college degrees. The 2004 recruit class of 50 included 25 with some post-high school education. In the 2006 class of 50 recruits, 42 had attended college. There have been no recruits since 2008 because of budget cuts.

Change didn't come easily

In March 2001, a month before the riots, the ACLU and local groups joined a 1999 lawsuit filed by Bomani Tyehimba, claiming police had discriminated against black people in Cincinnati for decades.

That lawsuit led to the Collaborative Agreement in 2002 between the ACLU, Cincinnati Black United Front, city and police union, which required police to adopt community-oriented policing as a strategy. A Memorandum of Understanding, a deal signed with the U.S. Department of Justice, required many more concrete reforms, including in the way uses of force are recorded and tracked. U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott appointed a federal monitor who oversaw compliance for the next six years.

Though lauded now, the reforms got off to a rough start.

Police leadership felt federal officials were cramming reforms down their throats.

But changes came anyway. Among them:

• Training officers in low-light situations, like the alley where Thomas died, and in dealing with suspects with mental health issues

• Training in how to recognize possible mental health issues in suspects and to better handle mentally ill people.

• Computers in officers' cruisers to give them access to a person's detailed criminal record, complete .

• Foot pursuit policy changed to require that officers assess whether a pursuit is appropriate, taking into consideration the seriousness of the offense, whether the suspect is armed and their ability to apprehend at a later date.

• In late 2003 the city bought updated Tasers for all officers after the death of Nathaniel Jones, an African-American man with drugs in his system. Officers hit him repeatedly with their batons.

• Officers are now required to fill out "contact cards" when they stop vehicles. The cards include details about those in the car, including their race. The cards grew out of allegations that Cincinnati officers stopped more minority drivers than whites.

• The Citizens Complaint Authority was created in 2002 to do independent reviews of all serious uses of force by police officers.

Officers balked at the CCA, insisting the department's internal reviews were enough and that the agency would be just another way their actions could be misunderstood and used against them.

But it seems to have had the opposite effect. CCA data show improvement in the number of investigations against officers and a reduction in the number of complaints sustained against officers. In 2004, the first year the CCA started keeping data, it investigated 193 complaints, some with multiple allegations of misconduct. The CCA sustained 92 allegations, or almost half, exonerating officers in 119 allegations. Last year, 83 were investigated, with 17% sustained and 51% exonerated.

With a new police chief coming in and continuing budget deficits, maintaining the reforms might be a challenge.

Saul Green, the court-ordered federal monitor who oversaw Cincinnati's police reforms for six years, was "greatly impressed" with the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence, started in 2007 to identify groups committing crimes and target them. But City Council cut CIRV's budget for this year, and the streetworkers — who walked neighborhoods talking to people after incidents to promote calm — were cut. The complaint authority was merged last year with the city's internal audit department to save money on support staff. Despite the cuts, city officials say they remain committed to reform.

The advertisement for a new chief to replace Streicher who retired on March 26, written by City Manager Milton Dohoney's office, specifies that the city is seeking someone who will keep the improvements and strive for more.

"They're clearly a lot better," the Rev. Damon Lynch III said of Cincinnati officers. He was former president of the Black United Front and led calls for a boycott of downtown Cincinnati after the riots.

"I think they've given it a good try," Lynch said. "I think they've made a good faith effort. It's important that the new chief buys into the collaborative and moves it even further down the road."

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2001 riots led to top-down change for Cincinnati police

"Sheryl L. Brown with the New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church prays as she stands in front of a line of mounted police officers at Central Parkway and Race Street in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 11, 2001."

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