Just days after Cleveland鈥檚 request to end the police consent decree was rejected, in place since 2015, the federal monitor laid out an ambitious plan for the next year at a council committee meeting.
Monitor Christine Cole鈥檚 office has plans for 11 assessments of the city鈥檚 progress toward completing the consent decree.
Much of the remaining work goes beyond patrol officers to administrators, Cole said during an appearance at council鈥檚 safety committee.
鈥淭his is a changed police department, and it needs to be managed well,鈥� Cole said. 鈥淎nd part of the 鈥榳ell-managed鈥� requires systems and processes.鈥�
This year, the monitor will examine how the department handles discipline and promotions, in addition to civilian oversight bodies and community engagement.
Some of the assessments aren鈥檛 scheduled for completion until 2027. Judge Solomon Oliver recently extended the monitor鈥檚 contract to the middle of 2027.
Earlier this year, the city and Department of Justice filed a request with Judge Oliver, the federal district court judge overseeing the agreement since it began in 2015, to end the consent decree.
The joint filing pointed to the city鈥檚 progress on use of force reforms and crisis intervention, which have largely met all the requirements of the consent decree, and in rewriting policies and training over the past ten years.
At the time, Mayor Justin Bibb said the city was not finished with reform but prepared to take over from federal oversight.
Councilmembers on Wednesday pressed the monitor, who works for Judge Oliver but whose bills are paid by the city, on how much longer the consent decree would take.
鈥淚'm reminded the Great Pyramids of Egypt were estimated to take 20 years to build,鈥� Councilmember Michael Polensek said. 鈥淲e're over halfway there with this consent decree, okay? I don't want to be on par with the Great Pyramids of Egypt as it pertains to the consent decree.鈥�
The monitor set up working groups with the city on each part of the consent decree that still need work, Cole said, but did not say how much longer she expected the process to last.
Deputy Monitor Melody Stewart, a former Ohio Supreme Court Justice who recently joined the monitoring team, said the plan is to address every remaining issue as quickly as possible.
鈥淲e're not going to sit here and say, 鈥楩ine, you don't want to do it, we'll be doing this for another four or five year,鈥�" Stewart said. "That would be irresponsible of us."
Councilmember Brian Kazy asked her if she could point to any specific constitutional violations committed by members of the Division of Police.
鈥淲e could point to actually many,鈥� Stewart said. 鈥淓ven with search and seizure and use of force, there鈥檚 not full compliance with certain things.鈥�
