![Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson administers the oath of office to members of the Community Police Commission in 2015. [Nick Castele / ideastream]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2366972/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x675+0+0/resize/840x472!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F8%2F17%2F2015cpc.png)
Cleveland is extending the deadline to apply to join the city’s Community Police Commission from Aug. 15 to Aug. 30.
The Community Police Commission is a 13-member panel charged with collecting public feedback and making policy recommendations on Cleveland’s 2015 police reform agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
“We had received requests from a couple of community groups to extend the process and allow people some more time to think about whether they wanted to do it,” Greg White, coordinates consent decree work for the city, told ideastream Friday.
White says the city has received “well north” of 30 applications so far. Four years ago, the city received around 200 applications.
Mayor Frank Jackson’s office appoints 10 members with the help of a selection committee. All seats are open, with commissioners’ 4-year terms nearing their expiration. Three commission members come from the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, Fraternal Order of Police and Black Shield, a group for African-American officers. The CPPA is the union for rank-and-file officers, while the FOP represents police supervisors.
Commission members must either live or work in the city of Cleveland and generally represent at least one of eight areas of focus laid out in the consent decree, from faith-based groups and civil rights advocacy to youth and student groups or those with expertise in the needs and issues of those dealing with mental illness or homelessness.
The consent decree requires the commission to hold meetings throughout the city, issue annual reports and assess new policies developed under the report agreement.
So far, Cleveland has issued new policies for using force, making stops and searches, interacting with the community and avoiding various forms of bias. A new semiannual progress report is expected soon from the team monitoring the city's compliance with the consent decree.
"Where we are right now is we've essentially finished the policy work," newly appointed monitor Hassan Aden told reporters last month. "But the hard work in implementing those policies and making sure that they become practice — that begins."
