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American Morning

Cincinnati Police Department Apologizes to Black Community

Aired April 17, 2001 - 11:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And now to Cincinnati to see how that city is faring since the curfew was lifted. CNN national correspondent Bob Franken joining us from Cincinnati with an update, and also, I think, an announcement from some police officer.

Bob, good to see you.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, the city is faring well so far. The curfew was lifted last night, as you pointed out, after four nights, and that proceeded by racial violence that occurred after the shooting of a young African-American youth, Timothy Thomas, a week ago. That caused violence which caused the city to put on the curfew. As I said, it was lifted, and things were normal. as you can see from the scenes from the same neighborhoods where there had been quite a few confrontations with the police in previous nights.

Now, as for today's developments, we're outside of city hall here, where there's going to be a council meeting this afternoon at 3:00 Eastern. They're going to discuss some reforms of the police department. There are also some members of the police department, the minority members, that are called the Sentinel Police Association. They represent about a quarter of the department in the city that's almost half of African-American. And they were saying that police department owed the city an apology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTTY JOHNSON, PRESIDENT, SENTINEL POLICE ASSN.: I would like to offer an apology, and I mean this, to the citizens of the city of Cincinnati because we in law enforcement here in the city of Cincinnati failed you. We failed you because we did not take heed to the warnings that the citizens talked about. I want a special focus in on the youth and the black men of the city of Cincinnati. I apologize to you for the selective enforcement that has come to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Now, the police officer who shot and killed the young man is being investigated by a grand jury, which will probably hear evidence next week. The mother, Angela Leisure, tells the community that although she called for calm all week, she says that it his its limits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANGELA LEISURE, MOTHER OF VICTIM: OK, now, the curfew is no longer effect. We as a community, especially the youths, because, like I said, if it would not for them, we would not be there today we are all sitting back on a powder keg waiting to see what the grand jury decides. We're all sitting back trying to see, and I've asked the youth to sit back and let's let justice prevail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Now, this is a community that, for the moment, has returned to normal; tension, but normal. But now it's time, say officials, to turn to the promises that they were made to achieve that normalcy to try and up with reforms of the relationship between the police department and the city's large African-American community; reforms that many people say should have been made decades ago -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bob Franken in Cincinnati, thank you.

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