In a report filed in federal court Wednesday, the federal monitor overseeing the Cleveland Division of Police found the department is using force in a reasonable, proportional way in nearly all instances reviewed, and is correcting actions when it's not.
鈥淲hen it comes to interacting with the public, the reviewers found that officers are generally following policies, supervisors are engaged, and when policy violations occur, there is internal identification of those issues, and the systems designed to address those violations are in place and working,鈥� the monitor, Christine Cole, wrote in a summary of the findings.
Cole and the monitoring team reviewed 272 use of force cases, nearly all from 2024. They found the force used in 97% of cases was 鈥渘ecessary,鈥� 鈥減roportional鈥� and 鈥渞easonable.鈥�
Cleveland entered into the consent decree in 2015, after a Department of Justice investigation found officers routinely used excessive force and violated suspects鈥� civil rights.
The agreement between the city and Department of Justice lists hundreds of separate reforms, including for use of force, stops and searches, officer accountability, crisis intervention and the equipment available to officers.
In this assessment, the monitor went through paragraphs 45 through 130 of the consent decree and gave the department a 鈥渃ompliance grade鈥� of zero through six.
The monitor found improvement in 74 of those paragraphs since the last time the city鈥檚 work was reviewed, and only four were downgraded. Of those 74 upgrades, the department reached the highest grade 鈥� six, or 鈥渟ubstantial and effective compliance鈥� 鈥� in 22 areas of reform. It received a five, or 鈥済eneral compliance,鈥� in 51 areas.
鈥淭he Monitoring Team鈥檚 recognition of the significant progress by the Cleveland Division of Police and the City of Cleveland reflects this Administration鈥檚 commitment to accountability and its investments in data-driven systems that drive measurable results,鈥� said Dr. Leigh Anderson, executive director of the Police Accountability Team.
The use of force assessment is the latest report on how well officers and supervisors are following those policies.
The monitor recently completed assessments on crisis intervention and search and seizure.
Several other assessments, including on community and problem-oriented policing, accountability and promotions, still need to be completed.
The monitor noted that use of force incidents overall are increasing. In 2024, there were 334 total incidents, up from 283 in 2023 and the pandemic low of 195 in 2021.
Chief Annie Todd said the recent increases aren鈥檛 necessarily a concern. Use of force incidents will happen, Todd said, but the department has created a stronger system of oversight.
鈥淭hose things exist and we are doing those internally, and this has changed substantially from when we started this consent decree,鈥� Todd said.
