CINCINNATI — There are currently three investigations underway following the death of Ryan Hinton, an 18-year-old shot and killed by a Cincinnati police officer during a pursuit. One is being done by CPD's Homicide Unit, another is an internal investigation within the police department and the third is by the Citizen Complaint Authority (CCA).
Created in 2003 as a result of the city's Collaborative Agreement after the police shot and killed Timothy Thomas two years prior, the CCA investigates all complaints against the Cincinnati Police Department.
“What we wanted from a community standpoint was another entity to do the investigations, because we felt at that time that we could not get a fair and balanced investigation,” said Iris Roley, who is a part of the Cincinnati Black United Front, one of the organizations that was part of the original agreement.
Roley is also a consultant to the Cincinnati City Manager for the Collaborative Agreement, policing and public safety.
The CCA is made up of seven citizens approved by city council, a full-time director and a team of professional investigators. All are independent of CPD.
“Whatever a citizen brings to the board, we look at — but we only look at policy violations; it’s not a criminal issue with us,” CCA Chairman Samuel Burbanks said.
WATCH: How the Citizen Complaint Authority works, and why they investigate
On top of all complaints against CPD, there is one incident that CCA will investigate no matter what, complaint or not.
“Shots fired — no matter what,” Roley said.
CCA is already investigating the May 1 shooting that resulted in Hinton's death. Hinton’s family on Monday raised questions about whether the officer was right in firing shots.
“We’re trying to get the family some answers as it relates to what happened with that shooting,” said Michael Wright, attorney for the Hinton family.
Complaints are assigned to investigators within 48 hours of being received. From there, it must be completed within 90 days. But police shootings and other cases with extenuating circumstances may take longer.
As of Monday night’s meeting, CCA currently has 27 investigations that are backlogged and past the 90-day completion period.
“We’re not happy about that, but we’re still pushing to get that number within that 90-day window,” Roley said.
Once a finding is reached, the board will review it and ask questions if they have any. Then they decide if they agree or disagree with the finding.
Those findings can be:
- Unfounded: Where the investigation determined no facts to support the incident complained of actually occurred.
- Sustained: Where the allegation is supported by sufficient evidence to determine that the incident occurred, and the actions of the officer were improper.
- Not Sustained: Where there are insufficient facts to decide whether the alleged misconduct occurred.
- Exonerated: Where the alleged conduct occurred but did not violate CPD policies, procedures, or training.
“Then we make recommendations which then go to the City Manager to be implemented,” Burbanks said.
The Cincinnati City Manager has the final say, no appeals can be made.
