DOJ limits use of force by Cleveland police

The city of Cleveland on Tuesday agreed to overhaul its police department under the supervision of an independent monitor, taking steps to address what the Justice Department (DOJ) called a pattern of excessive force.

U.S. Attorney for Northern Ohio Steven Dettelbach hailed the “historic” settlement with DOJ, arguing it will “transform the way that the city of Cleveland is policed for years and years to come.”

{mosads}“This is a defining moment for the city of Cleveland,” Johnson said.

The two parties agreed on a “consent decree,” which binds the city to the terms of a deal meant to address the conclusions found in the Justice Department’s “Pattern or Practice” investigation.

That investigation, launched in March 2013, found that officers unnecessarily used both lethal and non-lethal force while on duty. 

The agreement reached with Cleveland Mayor Frank Johnson (D) includes new policies on the use of force, watchdog reforms, and training on bias-free policing.

It also includes the formation of two major groups, the Community Police Commission and the Mental Health Advisory Committee. The first will be made up of 10 community members and one member from the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Black Shield Police Association, a black officers group.
 
The Mental Health Advisory Committee, meanwhile, will help officers learn how to safely deal with people suffering from a mental illness, as the Justice Department previously found that the police had, at times, used excessive force against the mentally ill.

“Compliance with this agreement — which means taking on systemic change — will be hard work,” Dettelbach said.

“And just as the commercial says, there is only one way to accomplish this work going forward — together.”

He also called on community members and leaders to work alongside rank-and-file officers and police brass to help reach the goals outlined by the agreement.

The news comes just days after the controversial weekend verdict that acquitted a Cleveland police officer who jumped onto the hood of a car to shoot at two unarmed black occupants in 2012. Officers pursued the car after it took off during a traffic stop and claim that they mistook a car backfiring as gunshots. That allegedly prompted officers to fire 137 shots into the car. 

The Justice Department and the Cleveland police are both also investigating the shooting death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old shot and killed while playing in a park by police who mistook his toy gun for a real weapon.

— This story was last updated at 3:04 p.m.