This discussion is not based on a mandated consent decree by the Department of Justice but it is based on an agreement between the Department of Justice $($DOJ$),$ representatives of the Cincinnati Black United Front $($CBUF$),$ the City of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Police Department $($CPD$),$ and the American Civil Liberties Union $($ACLU$).$ Although the DOJ had monitors observing the police reform and encouraging compliance with the collaboration agreement, it was very inspirational to see how the police department and the community and citizen groups came together to collaborate on the agreement and change the community$-$police relations model $($Enquirer$,2020).$

Most consent decrees start with a spark or a last straw moment and this collaboration agreement was no different. Timothy Thomas, an unarmed man, was shot by a police officer; the $15$th black man to be killed by Cincinnati Police in less than $6$ years. A federal lawsuit was filed against the Cincinnati Police Department $($Enquirer$,2020).$ Finally, The Collaborative Agreement $($CA$)$ was adopted in the hopes that taking a community focused approach to policing would be the way forward for Cincinnati. This CA was focused on improvements regarding police training, policy improvements, and improved processes and investigations for $$police use of force$$ cases $($Rothman & The ARIA Group, n$.$d$.).$

Do you agree or disagree with the above statement