CLEVELAND — The new federal monitor charged with overseeing reforms in the Cleveland Division of Police met with the City Council Safety Committee Wednesday, answering questions about how much progress he believes the department has made since the enactment of a consent decree in 2015, and how much longer that decree could last.
"We're nearly eight years into this consent decree, and I know that this weighs heavily on Cleveland," Karl Racine, the monitoring team's third full-time monitor, told lawmakers.
The decree came about after a monthslong investigation in 2014 that concluded with the U.S. Department of Justice finding reasonable cause to believe that Cleveland had engaged in a pattern of excessive use of force. Racine noted that between 2002 and 2015, "extraordinary events occurred in the lives of real people who were harmed, killed, lost loved ones. An unquantifiable loss of trust in law enforcement which needs to be healed."
"There was a lack of oversight by the administration. There was a lack of accountability within CPD, there was a lack of transparency within CPD," Safety Committee Chair Michael D. Polensek (Ward 8) added today. "We've paid a severe price for that — not only did we see individuals hurt and harmed, but also there's been a tremendous cost to the city in the standpoint of money."
The division agreed to a consent decree with the DOJ that included 340 areas of focus and an oversight team to monitor compliance with the decree. Racine told the committee police have made progress, with new policies implemented and improved training for officers. However, he admitted "there still is a lot of work that lies ahead."
Polensek concurred.
"I'm pleased in some areas, and I'm disappointed in others."
Still, Polensek was encouraged that Racine came to the table with him and his colleague on Council, something he told 3News the previous monitor — Hassan Aden — refused to do. Committee members joined Polensek in thanking Racine for his team's work, but eight years in, many of them also wondered aloud how much longer the decree would last, and how much longer taxpayers would have to foot the group's work.
"The work of organizational transformation and constitutional policing that's deserved by the citizens of this community — all of us — is not check the box," Professor Ayesha Bell Hardaway, who served as interim monitor prior to Racine's hiring, responded.
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Racine also stressed that point to Council, though it's a task that could prove even more difficult as the department deals with both a rise in violent crime and an officer shortage.
"We are here focused on a legal document and a process that is trying its best to approach healing that is necessary and, more importantly, possibly a road forward of trust and constitutional policing where people can have confidence," he said.
The monitoring team writes up a public report twice a year examining how police are doing in the 340 areas. Racine did not have a timeline for how much longer the process will be in place, but notes Senior U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. has "no interest in monitoring a day longer than is necessary."