The Community Police Commission is committed to constitutional policing that ensures the safety of everyone, from people in the city’s most marginalized and vulnerable communities to the police officers sworn to protect us.
Our community has made progress, but much remains to be done. Now, President Donald Trump’s executive order to review all ongoing Consent Decrees will put that progress at risk. It’s time for everyone in our community, including Mayor Justin Bibb, to stand firmly against this unprecedented federal action.
Mayor Bibb has called our community’s safety his “number one priority,” and vowed to ensure that systemic changes made within the Cleveland Division of Police would continue even after he left office.
When the City of Cleveland entered into its Consent Decree agreement with the Department of Justice 10 years ago, our elected leaders acknowledged that there was work to be done to protect residents’ constitutional rights. As evidenced by the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team’s most recent report, the City has made significant strides in its efforts to correct problems in areas such as use of force and accountability. However, after reviewing the Monitor’s findings, the CPC found that Cleveland is approximately 45% compliant with the Consent Decree overall, just a 3% percent increase since 2023.
“Undermining the Consent Decree now would be a disservice to all Clevelanders,” said CPC co-chair John Adams. “While the decision to end the agreement is ultimately up to Judge Solomon Oliver, weakening or removing Department of Justice oversight would create a barrier to reform.”
The president’s order will impede citizens’ rights by abandoning important guidelines and parameters that keep officers accountable for their actions. While the CPC would continue its vital work to ensure constitutional oversight and the implementation of Consent Decree principles, via Charter 115-5, ending federal oversight now would be premature. It would also leave room for the backslide of police policies that were meant to reconcile the harm that affected so many families at the hands of police violence.
Mayor Bibb and other elected officials must listen: Cleveland is bound to the Consent Decree for a reason. CPC expects Mayor Bibb to stand up to this administration and make it clear just how important Cleveland’s Consent Decree is to the future of the city he has been elected to lead.
We encourage everyone to reach out to Mayor Bibb’s office and the Department of Justice to ask them to keep Cleveland’s Consent Decree in practice as it is written.
If we all come together, we cannot and will not be ignored.