The City of Cincinnati is seeking a dynamic, seasoned, and forward-thinking Executive Director to serve as its Citizen Complaint Authority Director (CCA Director). The city desires a visionary leader with a proven track record of excelling in project and board management, navigating political landscapes and sensitive discussions, fostering collaboration among community stakeholders and law enforcement agencies, and understanding how to analyze and explain patterns of behavior.

The Citizen Complaint Authority (CCA) was one of the first citizen review boards created in the United States. A collaborative agreement that was established in 2002 was the result of a class action suit brought by the ACLU and the Cincinnati Black United Front. The agreement set standards for an independent review board to hear citizen complaints about alleged acts of misconduct, established a community-problem orientated policing strategy, and required the collection of data on police activity, such as use of force, to ensure bias-free policing.

The mission of the CCA is to investigate serious interventions by police officers, including, but not limited to, discharges of firearms, deaths in custody, and major uses of force. The CCA also reviews and resolves citizen complaints of law enforcement misconduct in a fair and efficient manner.

The CCA Director will provide direct oversight and consult on all investigations of citizen complaints alleging excessive force, the improper pointing of firearms at persons, unreasonable searches and seizures, and discrimination filed about employees of the Cincinnati Police Department. Additionally, the Director will investigate shots fired or death in custody cases involving employees of the Police Department. The Director will further identify patterns as it relates to officer conduct and/or policy execution and facilitate effective protocols to raise those patterns to the City Manager/Assistant City Manager.

The seven-member CCA Board reviews each investigative report to confirm the completeness of the investigation and approves or disapproves the Director’s findings and recommendations. The CCA acts independent of the Cincinnati Police Department and reports directly to the City Manager.
The city has had five permanent directors since its inception in 2003. The CCA Director reports directly to the Assistant City Manager. The CCA Director oversees five investigators and two support staff. Approximately 300 cases per year are reviewed by the CCA.