Abstract
The historically contentious relationship between the black community and the police is one of the most enduring and seemingly intractable challenges facing law enforcement and public officials in the United States. Given this troubled history, many cities have established civilian oversight of police to address issues of police misconduct, which are often colored by race. This article uses Albert Hirschman's theory of exit, voice, and loyalty to explore the phenomenon of the willingness of blacks who have filed complaints against the police in the city of Cleveland to use the citizen complaint process again in the future, despite their overwhelming dissatisfaction with the complaint process, whereas whites and other minorities would not. This paper has implications for enhancing public officials' and police administrators' understanding of the relevance of the citizen complaint process for blacks and improving the oversight of police and police-community relations.