EUCLID, Ohio — The head of a local advocacy group and the Euclid branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has sent a request for a federal investigation into the city’s police department.
“At this point we’ve tried every other avenue from discussion sessions, one-on-ones, community meetings and so forth,” explains Legal Advocacy and Writ Resources and Euclid NAACP President, Cassandra McDonald.
“We just can’t seem to get on one accord so it’s time for someone else to step in to help us out.”
In the letter, McDonald cites a ‘pattern of excessive and deadly force, police brutality and intimidation.’
“Our investigation showed that there are a certain amount of police officers that are repetitive violators, these are the people that we are specifically targeting.”
In a joint statement, in response to the letter, the city and police department responded saying in part, “We welcome full review and will cooperate fully with any investigation.”
“We need to look at this as a community issue and not just a black issue, not just a police issue, not just a white issue, this is a community issue and we all need to be involved,” says McDonald.