Not many UC Blue Ash students are old enough to remember the Timothy Thomas case in Cincinnati. For those who don’t, it was Cincinnati’s own bout with 
civil unrest after a Cincinnati police officer killed an unarmed young black male.
Does that remind you of something? The incidents are similar, but the manner in which things unraveled is where the two incidents differ.
The situation in Ferguson was al- lowed to boil over into the town becom- ing a two-week long warzone, with the police on one side and angry citizens on the other.
In Cincinnati it was quite the oppo- site. After the first few days of unrest, the National Guard was called in, and the en- tire city was placed on a strictly enforced curfew. One would have to commend Cincinnati on the handling of the tension during that time.
The underlying factor in both cases is that there was a true disconnect between the police and the people they are paid to protect. There is no doubt that there were mistakes made on both sides in both cases, but the mistakes the victims made should not have led to their demise.
There are severe issues that need to be examined to improve the relationship between community and police. Un- til then, incidents like Mike Brown’s and Timothy Thomas’s untimely deaths will continue.