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[h=4]Justice and Cleveland reach deal to monitor police[/h]WASHINGTON--The Justice Department and the city of Cleveland's troubled police department are expected to announce an agreement as soon as today that would subject local public safety operations to the
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The Justice Department and the city of Cleveland announced an agreement Tuesday that would change the troubled local police department. VPC
A Cleveland police officer looks on as people take to the streets and protest in reaction to Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo being acquitted of manslaughter charges after he shot two people at the end of a 2012 car chase in which officers fired 137 shots.(Photo: Ricky Rhodes, Getty Images)
The Justice Department and the city of Cleveland announced an agreement Tuesday that would place the troubled local police department under the direction of an independent monitor to ensure reforms following a string of deadly encounters involving officers.
The agreement comes following the weekend acquittal of an officer in the 2012 fatal shooting of two unarmed residents, which prompted a wave of protests in the city, and the November shooting of a 12-year-old boy who was killed while playing with a toy gun in a local park.
Mayor Frank Jackson described the settlement as "a defining moment'' for the city, adding that he hoped it would serve as a "catalyst'' for broad reforms in the police department's relationship with a wary community.
Tanis Quach of Cleveland protests in front of the Justice Building. People took to the streets and protested in reaction to Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo being acquitted of manslaughter charges after he shot two people at the end of a 2012 car chase.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Ricky Rhodes, Getty Images)
Vanita Gupta, who directs Justice's Civil Rights Division, said the 105-page agreement outlined needed improvement in virtually every aspect of the policing operation, from how Cleveland recruits its officers and how they are trained to the way it disciplines those officers who break the rules. A centerpiece of the federally monitored program is the creation of a community police commission composed of local civil rights advocates, business leaders, police union representatives and others to address such concerns as racial bias and whether officers are being held accountable for their actions.
A December Justice review of policing in Cleveland found the use of unreasonable force was part of a pattern of behavior among police that was in some cases endorsed by supervisors.
The Justice report mirrored recent findings in other cities, including Ferguson, Mo., and Albuquerque that have contributed to a national re-examination of policing in the U.S. Justice officials have reviewed the operations of more than 20 departments since 2009. This month, Justice launched a review of the Baltimore Police Department after last month's death of Freddie Gray. The 25-year-old man suffered severe spinal cord injuries and died while in police custody, touching off violent protests in that city. Six officers have been charged by state authorities in connection to Gray's arrest and death.
A person holds up a sign for justice for 12-year-old Tamir Rice during a news conference Dec. 8, 2014, in Cleveland.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Tony Dejak, AP)
"Constitutional policing is key to building trust between police departments and the communities they serve,'' Gupta said, appearing with Jackson to outline the agreement. "As you know, the difficult task of rebuilding trust between police and the community is one that communities around the country are struggling with, and it is also one that is not new.''
The Justice review of the Cleveland agency examined 600 incidents in which police used some method of force between 2010 and 2013. It concluded in part that law enforcement is "sometimes chaotic and dangerous … and frequently deprives individuals of their constitutional rights.''
Among the most troubling of last year's Justice disclosures was that in addition to the fatal shootings, excessive force sometimes involved victims who were struck in the head with the butts of police-issued firearms. And some of those incidents involved the mentally ill or emotionally disturbed.
Part of Tuesday's agreement specifically calls for additional training related to police encounters with the mentally ill. It calls on the Cleveland police to form a cadre of officers equipped to respond at all hours of the day to incidents involving "people in crisis.''
The Justice deal also requires officers to engage in "de-escalation techniques'' to avoid inappropriate applications of force, lethal and otherwise.
"If force is used,'' Gupta said, "officers will immediately provide emergency first aid as necessary.''
The recently concluded trial of Michael Brelo, 31, was connected to a frenzied chase in which officers fired 137 times, allegedly mistaking the pursued vehicle's back-fires for gunshots.
Brelo was acquitted of manslaughter charges, sparking a wave of protests that resulted in dozens of local arrests.
Patrick D'Angelo, Brelo's attorney at trial and the former attorney for the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, called the agreement "a waste of time" and said it was the result of "armchair quarterbacking" by federal officials who don't understand the day-to-day experiences of officers.
"All these efforts are superficial," D'Angelo said Tuesday afternoon. "Sometimes there may be tragedies where deadly force has to be used. You don't see that too much when you are working in the Department of Justice in an ivory tower or in a building in the FBI because you're not out there in the streets."
D'Angelo said instead of focusing on the conduct of officers, leaders need to look into how top officials like the mayor and city council have contributed to the problems in the department and the lack of training for the rank and file. He also said there needs to be more community policing, better police supervision and more diversity in the department.
Charlotte Robinson's cousin Malissa Williams along with Timothy Russell were both killed during the 2012 fatal police chase and shooting involving Brelo. Robinson isn't sure having the federal government monitoring the police department will change what she believes are deeply rooted racist policing practices.
The Justice Department is still part of a broken criminal justice system that discriminates against blacks and federal officials may carry the same bias as local officers, Robinson said.
"It's like they are still on the same team," she said of Justice Department and Cleveland city officials. "I don't know if they are going to do what we asked them to do. Police are supposed to protect and serve us and they keep killing us and it's like no one cares."
In the separate shooting of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy, the officer identified as the shooter reportedly displayed emotional problems and poor firearm skills in his former job with a neighboring law enforcement agency before joining the Cleveland force where he was a rookie officer at the time of the November incident.
"You need to create a climate of trust," said Khalid Samad, a longtime Cleveland activist and co-founder of Peace in the Hood, a local civil rights group. "Who would want to live in a city without a police department? No one. You have to have order. But people just want good policing."
Basheer Jones, 30, a community activist and author who lives in Cleveland, is excited yet cautious about the agreement. He said the amount of time the agreement stays in place as well as the community police commission's composition and the authority it has will heavily influence the agreement's success.
"You could have a consent decree but if you don't have true oversight and enforcement, you just have a piece of paper," Jones said. "We want a structure that does not support racism."
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