The city of Cleveland’s new police oversight body, the Community Police Commission (CPC), held its second meeting Wednesday. Disputes about how quickly to move forward were on full display.
Early on, the commissioners, who receive small stipends for their work but are essentially volunteers without experience as public officials, grappled with the procedures for running a public meeting.
A dozen people attended the Wednesday meeting at a city-owned recreation center on Cleveland’s East Side. One of the attendees asked whether the commission was ready to act if a Cleveland police officer killed someone that night.
In response, some members said that even if that did happen, that’s not something they thought they would have to address immediately.
“We are in the process of being trained,” said Commissioner Jan Ridgeway. “But on the other hand, other investigative services must be done before it gets to us anyway.”
The Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department would handle the early investigation to decide about criminal charges if it’s a fatal police shooting.
The Internal Affairs Unit at the Cleveland Division of Police would conduct its own investigation. And the two other civilian oversight agencies in Cleveland, the Office of Professional Standards and the Civilian Police Review Board, would also have their say before CPC responds.
“We actually would be looking at what the city does, that’s what’s in the charter,” said Commissioner Piet van Lier, who chaired Wednesday night's meeting.
While the Community Police Commission will not directly investigate incidents, it does have ultimate authority over police discipline, including in cases that could result in criminal charges against officers.
They can subpoena witnesses and city officials. They can overrule the police department and mayor’s office decisions on discipline.
Commissioner John Adams disagreed with the idea of waiting for those other processes and the commission’s training sessions to play out.
“One of the challenges of the commission is we have to learn to walk and chew gum at the same time,” Adams said during the commission meeting.
He added they could be getting trained on parts of their work, like conducting an evidentiary hearing where witnesses are called, or Cleveland police policies, while also fulfilling other parts of their role.
“Be transparent and update the community about what we’re doing,” Adams said. “I feel like at a certain point that’s the most important thing is that we are open and honest about what we’re doing and where we are.”
But the meeting showed they’re also not ready to speak as a commission even on matters that don’t directly involve Cleveland police officers.
Later in the meeting, Commissioner Alana Garrett-Ferguson handed out a statement on the Memphis police killing of Tyre Nichols in January.
“The Civilian Police Review Board, all the other entities, and they are also independent under Charter Section 115, has made a statement in regards to Tyre Nichols,” Garrett-Ferguson said.
Garrett-Ferguson said there was some discussion right after Nichols’ death among commission members about making a statement. But nothing came from it.
Garrett-Ferguson said she sent around a statement Tuesday night and didn’t hear back. So she asked to have the statement discussed during the meeting.
There was some confusion about how to move forward.
Commissioner Gregory Reaves was against the idea.
“When this was happening, we hadn’t even met for the first time,” Reaves said. “So how could we possibly come together and speak with one voice? And now, how can we possibly say something that hasn’t already been said?”
Some members were unsure whether the full commission meeting was the right time and place to discuss the statement. Some thought too much time had passed since Nichols’ death.
Adams pressed the commission to figure out a process and say something publicly.
“As a person who knows the history, this case is different. We’re supposed to be different. We cannot be afraid to act. And that’s my frustration so far on this commission,” Adams said.
Eventually, the statement was put to the side until a later date.
Another issue left open was whether to hire a full-time lawyer to work with the commission or rely on lawyers from the city’s Law Department.
Advocates are pressing the commissioners to hire their own lawyer, cautioning that the city of Cleveland will have different interests than the commission, including protecting itself against future lawsuits, during investigations of police officers.
Commissioners will meet again next week in their committees to continue creating the rules and procedures they’ll need so they can be a fully functioning commission.
