Cleveland city council receives a briefing Wednesday on the city’s police reform agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. But as ideastream’s Nick Castele reports, the settlement may not be formally set into motion until next week.
The agreement between Cleveland and the Justice Department is scheduled to go before federal judge Solomon Oliver on Friday, June 12. His stamp of approval starts the clock for the city’s policing reforms.
Within 30 days, Cleveland must put together a panel to select the city’s new 13-member community police commission. That selection group collects applications this summer, and nominates commission members by mid-September.
The commission will include representatives from civil and minority rights groups, faith organizations and businesses—as well as from Cleveland’s police unions and Black Shield, the African-American officers’ association.
Within three months of the agreement's approval, Cleveland and DOJ officials will select a monitor to oversee the city’s compliance. The Justice Department has already asked for letters of interest from prospective candidates.
Mayor Frank Jackson also must appoint a police inspector general. And within six months, the city must set up a mental health advisory board for police, with an officer put in charge of serving people in crisis.
