City of Cleveland officials described progress toward completion of the police consent decree as “very durable” but “the work is never done” during a Friday appearance at the City Club of Cleveland. This year, several assessments by the monitor appointed by a federal judge will provide a clearer picture of that progress.
Chief of Police Annie Todd and the head of Mayor Justin Bibb’s Police Accountability Team, Leigh Anderson, appeared at a forum titled “10 Years of Cleveland’s Consent Decree” moderated by Ideastream Public Media’s Abbey Marshall.
Cleveland entered into the consent decree in 2015 following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice that found a pattern of excessive force by the police department.
During a separate interview with Ideastream Public Media Friday before the forum, the federal monitor evaluating the city’s progress, Karl Racine, described the consent decree reforms, which the city agreed to, as an “almost complete overhaul of all policies” that officers have to follow.
Those policy rewrites and the officer training that went along with them are complete, and the city is currently in an assessment phase, said Racine.
“And so, for the first time, I believe, in 2025, the residents of Cleveland will get a very detailed report out of our assessments,” Racine said. “I'm also here to tell you that, in several areas, there's been notable progress.”
Racine's team is working on assessments of use-of-force incidents by Cleveland police officers, the department’s crisis intervention team, which responds to individuals in a mental health crisis, and search and seizure procedures.
The police department has, during previous evaluations by the monitor, received high marks for its use-of-force and crisis intervention reforms. The search-and-seizure assessment, which reviews police stops and searches for constitutionality, is likely to show some areas for improvement, said Racine.
“You'll see certain information come out from time to time around stop data and disparities in regards to individuals stopped,” Racine said. “I think that is an area that our assessment is going to be really important, and it will probably reveal opportunities for the city to get better and learn.”
During the City Club forum, Anderson echoed that prediction.
“We have to be honest about these areas,” said Anderson. “Search and seizure is how we got into this, right?”
None of the officials were prepared to make any predictions about when the consent decree is likely to end. There’s already been indications from Washington, D.C., that the new attorney general will face pressure to bring consent decrees to a close nationwide.
The Associated Press reported in January on a DOJ memo that ordered a freeze on all police consent decrees negotiated during the previous administration.
On Wednesday, Ohio’s new senator, Bernie Moreno, sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking her to initiate steps in court that would bring existing consent decrees, including Cleveland’s, to an end.
Those signs of hostility in national politics toward consent decrees isn’t being treated as an invitation to end the one in Cleveland, said Anderson.
“We are in the throes of the consent decree,” said Anderson told the City Club audience. “My mandate is very clear from the mayor — it is to make sure we are in compliance with the consent decree. As far as I’m concerned, that will continue until I am given a different mandate.”
Racine, who was appointed by U.S. District Court Judge Solomon Oliver, who has authority over the decree in Cleveland, said he is expecting the work to continue, though it’s unclear whether there will be enough time for all the work that was envisioned a year ago.
During a status hearing in Oliver’s court in September, Racine said there are 10 “broad areas” that will undergo assessment in total. The city has started three and has seven more to go, including on discipline and promotions.
In an interview Friday, Racine was less committed to getting to all 10 this year.
“Whether we get to 10 assessments this year, that is a lot,” said Racine. “I know that we've put a lot on our own plates because we know how eager the police and the residents of Cleveland are to move forward. And we're going to do everything we can to do just that, but not without being diligent. We must do a thorough and diligent job. So, you're going to see 2025 is the year of assessments.”
In one of the areas next in line for assessment — police promotions — the city has yet to create a policy that takes into account an officer’s full history and adherence to the reforms in the consent decree.
Work on that area of reform will get into entirely new territory for the department, Todd said during the City Club forum.
“There’s never been a per se policy in place,” said Todd. “With that, we’ve followed the guidelines of the civil service laws for promotions.”
Todd added that, whenever the consent decree does end, she believes the system of officer accountability that has been put in place will live on.
“I am fair, consistent and I hold people accountable. That is my dedication to the community, that is my dedication to our men and women,” said Todd. “I can tell you, as chief, it is very lonely because I can’t have friends, I can’t have relationships because any type of friendship you have with someone can be misconstrued as someone not being held accountable.”
