City leaders, police officials and community advocates gathered Thursday night to recommit to Cincinnati's Collaborative Agreement the landmark police reform pact created 25 years ago following the 2001 unrest while confrontin g persistent racial disparities in policing.The meeting at New Prospect Baptist Church brought together representatives from the city administration, Cincinnati police, the Cincinnati Black United Front and community members as part of what leaders are calling a "refresh" of the agreement."The purpose of tonight was to reaffirm the commitment to the collaborative agreement," Iris Roley, consultant for the city and longtime civil rights advocate, said. "Not just the city administration, and not just the police department, but from the third party of the agreement, which is the Cincinnati Black United Front."The Collaborative Agreement was created in the early 2000s after the fatal police shooting of Timothy Thomas and days of civil unrest in Over-the-Rhine. The agreement became a nationally recognized model for police reform and community policing.WATCH: City leaders share progress and updates about Cincinnati's historic Collaborative Agreement Cincinnati renews commitment to landmark police reform agreementOver the last two decades, the agreement led to major policy changes within the Cincinnati Police Department, including stricter pursuit policies, expanded use-of-force reporting, body-worn cameras, mental health response training and the creation of contact cards forms officers must complete when stopping civilians.Roley said the agreement remains active and continues to shape city policy today."I wouldn't be here if it [the Collaborative] wasn't," Roley said. "The collaborative is alive and well. We just have to make sure we use it."Roley pointed to recent public safety efforts at Government Square and downtown transit centers as examples of the agreement's continued impact. She said initiatives focused on problem-solving and community engagement reduced opportunities for crime by 67% and cut arrests of Black youth by more than half in targeted areas."The things that we did on Government Square reduced opportunities for crime by 67 percent and reduced arrests of young Black children by 50-something percent," Roley said.Refresh process outlines 52 action itemsKait Bell, violence reduction manager in the city manager's office, said the refresh includes 52 total action items. According to Bell, 35 of those recommendations have either been completed or are currently in progress.Several of the recommendations focus on improving contact card data collection and transparency. Proposed updates include improved age data, identifying which officer initiated a stop and adding more information about an officer's assignment or beat.Transparency remains central to the agreement's mission, leaders said."We had the forethought of seeing that 25 years ago, saying that we want to see the data, so everybody sees it," Roley said. "We need more people to help us identify where we may not be working to the greatest extent feasible because we're human beings."Racial disparities persist, data showsThe renewed commitment comes amid renewed scrutiny.A recent report Campaign Zero found, an anti-police-violence advocacy group, found Cincinnati police officers stopped Black people 3.4 times more often than white people in 2025. The report also found Black residents were more than twice as likely to be searched and nearly twice as likely to experience force by police since 2009.Roley said those statistics reflect lived experiences for many residents."Historically, police were problematic for the Black community," Roley said. "While multiple things can be true, we can say that today, in some instances, we see better policing, we see commitment, and then we can also see over-policing. It is up to us to call that out."She also urged residents to view policing disparities through a broader lens that includes homelessness, mental health, education and poverty."What else is out there besides policing?" Roley asked.Data now drives department decisionsPolice officials and analysts at Thursday's meeting emphasized the role data and problem-solving strategies now play within the department.A representative from the CPD's crime analysis unit said the Collaborative Agreement fundamentally changed how the department operates."Without the collaborative agreement, my position and my unit would not exist at all," the representative said.The representative also said the department has expanded its crime analysis staff and embedded civilian analysts within police districts to guide deployment decisions and problem-solving projects using data instead of instinct alone."They are working with the officers, the neighborhood officers, the captains to try to use data to guide the decision-making," the representative said.Community involvement key to next phaseCommunity involvement, Roley said, remains critical moving forward."Make a determination of what type of policing you want in the city of Cincinnati, but you have to be part of that," Roley said.The city plans to continue discussions through additional community meetings this summer before a larger Collaborative Agreement conference scheduled for Sept. 10-12.At that conference, leaders say they plan to discuss the next phase of reforms and what policing in Cincinnati should look like over the next 25 years. ...read more read less