Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb acknowledged his push to end federal oversight over the city's police reform might upset some members of the community.
"This moment may bring some mixed emotions," Bibb said at a Thursday press conference discussing the city's motion to terminate a decade-long policing consent decree. "For some, it represents real progress. For others, it may raise some concerns. Both are real, and both are valid.
"But I can say this with my utmost confidence; Cleveland is ready for this moment."
Others disagree.
"There have been some improvements, but it's not where it needs to be," said Brenda Bickerstaff, who founded Citizens for a Safer Cleveland. She has been an outspoken police reform advocate since her brother was fatally shot by Cleveland police in 2002.
Bickerstaff's group led the charge to pass Issue 24, which established a community police commission. They have been at the forefront advocating for police reform in the city, regularly attending consent decree hearings and speaking out at public meetings.
LaTonya Goldsby, who serves as the president for Citizens for a Safer Cleveland and Cleveland's Black Lives Matter chapter, said she was troubled by the lack of resident engagement around the decision.
"I think as community members, we should have been made aware of that," Goldsby said. "I don't think anyone was before today. That just goes to show the city still lacks transparency in this process."
The city entered the consent decree agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2015 after a federal investigation found a pattern of excessive use of force and civil rights violations by the Cleveland Division of Police.
In the years since, the city has invested tens of millions of dollars for new technology, policy changes and training upgrades. City leaders pointed to statistics as justification for the request to end federal oversight. At the most recent update hearing, consent decree monitor Christine Cole said her team reviewed 272 use of force cases and found the force used in 97% of those cases was 鈥渘ecessary,鈥� 鈥減roportional鈥� and 鈥渞easonable.鈥�
But that progress is not being felt throughout the city, Goldsby said.
"We could talk about the improvements that we've made and all of those things, but again, they're not being felt in the community," Goldsby said.
City leaders acknowledged that gap at Thursday's press conference.
"The other thing that we are looking for is community engagement," said Leigh Anderson, who was appointed as the executive director of the police accountability team during Bibb's first term. "And one of the things that I can say about community engagement is that the consent decree has been here for 10 years. The community does not feel the change. We recognize that. So we need a different vehicle."
Bibb signaled his intention to end the consent decree when he first took office in 2022.
"In no way, are we declaring mission accomplished," Bibb said Thursday. "But what we are saying today is that we've achieved a significant milestone in the progress that we've made under the consent decree and now is the time for the City of Cleveland to take back the reigns for local control."
The announcement's timing raised some eyebrows. Since re-entering office in 2025, President Donald Trump has been vocal about wanting to see an end to policing consent decrees across the country. Bibb told reporters the decision was independent of what was happening in Washington, D.C., but Bickerstaff said she doesn't think the city would be filing the motion if Trump wasn't president.
"You see what's going on around the country with ICE," she said, referring to increased immigration crackdowns under Trump's administration. "None of those ICE officers are exercising constitutional policing, period."
Goldsby agreed the decision was "all political."
"We know that this administration is very, very, very pro-police," Goldsby said. "When we look at the resources that have been poured into our community under the guise of improving public safety, we're looking at police tech surveillance, license plate readers, ShotSpotter, and all these other technologies that have been poured into our community."
Bickerstaff said she always knew the day would come where the city would exit the consent decree, but she said she's concerned officers will go back to "their old ways" without federal oversight at this time.
"I hope the officers have learned what constitutional policing is through the 11 years that the consent decree has been here," Bickerstaff said. "I hope they have taken the information that's been given to them and the training and implement that when they interact, especially with Black and brown people."
Judge Solomon Oliver, the federal judge overseeing the consent decree, will now decide whether to grant or deny the city and Department of Justice's motion.
