Cincinnati Police and Racial Politics

(Cincinnati, Ohio) Rev. Damon Lynch, III, pastor of the New Prospect Baptist Church and President of the Cincinnati Black United Front, has spearheaded black activism in Cincinnati in recent years, primarily protesting the activities of the police department. Complaints of racial profiling, brutality, and lack of discipline have resulted in Rev. Lynch filing lawsuits and calling for economic boycotts.

Last month, Nathaniel Jones, a 41-year-old morbidly obese man high on alcohol and PCP, died after a confrontation with police and Rev. Lynch called for the city to fire Police Chief Thomas Streicher.

This past week, Rev. Lynch was given a new reason to complain about the police. His son, Damon Lynch, IV, 19, was indicted on felony charges of theft and possession of criminal tools. It seems that he and two of his friends were arrested for breaking into parked cars along Madison Road in Hyde Park.

Apparently, Rev. Lynch has spent so much time worrying about discipline within the Cincinnati Police Department that he's been somewhat neglectful with regard to discipline in his offspring.