For those of you who wonder if any good can come out of this, here is a link to a Wikipedia entry about the 2001 riots in Cincinnati that resulted when a Cincinnati police officer killed Timothy Thomas, a young, unarmed African American man. The entry includes an overview of unequal treatment African Americans experienced at the hands of the police.

en.wikipedia.org

Here is a link to some information about the collaborative agreement reached between the community and police resulting from this incident:

socsci.uci.edu

Current and former Cincinnati government and police officials have talked to parties in Ferguson about this process and this agreement. I’m not sure who asked for their input or who they talked to.

While things are not perfect, there has been great improvement in how police interact with citizens here. I despaired of any positive change in this city, but it has happened. That’s why I am hoping Ferguson can experience positive long term outcomes also. If Cincinnati can do it, any city can do it.