Cuts at the federal level are impacting Cleveland's Police Accountability team, the group put in place to ensure city implemented the consent decree overseeing police reform.
"We have technical assistance through the federal government through the Department of Justice to help us with our Community and Problem Oriented Policing program,” said Leigh Anderson, the team's executive director, Wednesday during a City Council Safety Committee meeting. “We were just notified yesterday that the program will cease until further notice."
Anderson said the DOJ provided support to help the city understand the requirements of the program.
"We had technical assistance to actually get education and be updated on new policies and procedures — new 21st Century best practices,” Anderson told committee members. “We had individuals that were former chiefs of police that were helping us work the process of coming into compliance with the CPOP [Community and Problem Oriented Policing] program."
During the meeting, Ward 1 Councilmember Joe Jones warned that federal police oversight in Cleveland could end altogether.
“Of all that is happening in Washington D.C., I’ve heard some of the talk that they may not even have this here in our city,” he said.
Jones added Mayor Justin Bibb's administration is aware of the possibility.
"We've gotten reports that they're going to discontinue on the federal level all of what's happening here in the city of Cleveland,” Jones said. “So that's something we need to chew on a little bit."
The DOJ began monitoring Cleveland Police under a consent decree signed in 2015. The decree put in place new department regulations and training requirements after a federal investigation found a pattern of excessive use of force by officers.
