CINCINNATI — A new report claims Cincinnati police are twice as likely to stop Black people as white people, and Black motorists are five times more likely to be stopped by officers than their white counterparts in majority-white neighborhoods.

Campaign Zero, a nonprofit that researches policing practices and proposes policies for reform, said it analyzed the Cincinnati Police Department’s contact card data from 2009 to 2025 — more than 446,000 cards — to examine racial disparities in police stops 25 years after the police killing of Timothy Thomas and the birth of the Collaborative Agreement.

The nonprofit said in its report that the number of police stops has “fallen dramatically” since 2009. However, the report says Black people have consistently been the most stopped racial group each year, despite U.S. Census data showing that Black residents make up around 36% of the population.

WATCH: We break down the report released Thursday

Report claims Cincinnati police data shows ‘worsening racial disparity’ in stops

“The data shows an undeniable, persistent, and worsening racial disparity in who Cincinnati police choose to stop,” the report says.

The city, in response, said it was not consulted during Campaign Zero’s work, and is planning for a separate review with additional context that provides “a thorough, fair and full picture of policing in Cincinnati.”

You can read the entire report below:

The report includes multiple charts that show stop rates per 1,000 residents, noting that racial disparities appeared to rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, though the report says this might have been impacted by more Black residents being employed as essential workers and still commuting at that time.

Additionally, it shows a growing gap between Black and white motorists stopped in Cincinnati. In 2009, the report says data shows Black residents accounted for 58% of stops while white residents made up 41%, a gap of 17 points. In 2025, the report says data shows Black residents accounted for around 66% of motor vehicle stops while white residents made up 27%.

When comparing motorist stops to the racial makeup of the city’s neighborhoods, the report said majority-Black neighborhoods have very equal stop rates between Black and white residents. However, the report says Black residents are 3.7x more likely to be stopped in a majority-white neighborhood than a white resident.

Cincinnati City Council member and former Cincinnati police officer Scotty Johnson questions the findings.

“Unfortunately, it was not a collaborative effort with this group that did the research,” Johnson said.

Johnson pointed to patrol geography as a potential factor in the numbers.

“What part of town these officers are patrolling in — if you think about a community like Winton Terrace, [it] is probably 95% plus Black. If an officer is showing that he or she is stopping more Black people than white people and they patrol Winton Terrace, the fact that the population is 95% Black would tell that story,” Johnson said.

Separately, the report says Black pedestrians made up for 80% of police stops in 2025 compared to 19% white pedestrians. In majority-Black neighborhoods, Black pedestrians are stopped 1.3x more likely than white pedestrians. In majority-white neighborhoods, the report says Black pedestrians are being stopped at “8x, 16x, even 32x the rate of white residents.”

The report claims crime rates explain higher stop rates in particular neighborhoods, but do not explain the racial disparities.

“Cincinnati has one of the richest datasets in the country, allowing us to do this important analysis. Twenty-five years after Cincinnati entered into the Collaborative Agreement, Black residents are still being stopped, searched, and arrested at higher rates at every stage. The whiter the neighborhood, the wider the gap,” said DeRay Mckesson, Campaign Zero executive director and a civil rights activist who grabbed national attention during protests in Ferguson and Baltimore. “We know Cincinnati voters expect policy change to address racially biased police outcomes. The city’s leaders should listen to them.”

In a memo, City Manager Sheryl Long wrote to Mayor Aftab Pureval and City Council that the city was not consulted during Campaign Zero’s review of data. However, staff met with Campaign Zero and the Hamilton County Public Defender’s Office to view the presentation after it was done, and “are working collaboratively with (the nonprofit) to provide context from other data sets not included in their work.”

“The City has a long-standing commitment to data and transparency,” Long wrote. “We also have a responsibility to scrutinize the methodology used to analyze the data to ensure that its conclusions are not incomplete or overly simplistic when attempting to answer serious questions that all cities face.”

Long said they are finding an external expert who can conduct their own review, and the city will ensure they have everything they need “to provide a thorough, fair and full picture of policing in Cincinnati.”

Johnson echoed skepticism about the report’s intent.

“You wonder if this is not politically motivated to attempt to drive a wedge between the black community and the police department. I’m glad we’ve got leadership on both ends that are seeing right through this and are asking the right questions,” Johnson said.

Mayor Aftab Pureval issued a statement Thursday in support of Long’s response and plan.

Pureval said it is “frustrating” that the city was “prevented from engaging” on the study.