Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb created the Police Accountability Team in September 2022 to support the police department’s efforts to implement reforms required by the 2015 federal consent decree. The team tracks the city’s progress in meeting requirements related to community policing, mental health response and more.
What’s the purpose of the Police Accountability Team?
When Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb announced the creation of the team, he said the purpose was to accelerate the pace of change within the police department and get the city on track to end its consent decree agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. The city set eight focus areas for the team related to increasing community trust:
- Community engagement
- Community and problem-oriented policing
- Bias-free policing
- Use of force
- Crisis intervention
- Search and seizure
- Accountability, transparency and oversight
- Officer assistance, support and supervision
What authority does the team have?
The Police Accountability Team reports directly to the mayor. It is supposed to act as an internal monitor for the city, tracking reform progress. They meet with public safety and police department leaders, the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team, the Community Police Commission, and others involved in police reform. They also help guide the police department toward consent decree compliance.
Cleveland’s consent decree
The consent decree is an agreement between Cleveland and the U.S. Department of Justice that requires police reforms. It came after a federal investigation that found a “pattern and practice” of police officers violating the rights of residents and using excessive force. The city and the federal government signed the agreement in 2015.
Who is on the Police Accountability Team?
Team members have backgrounds in police procedure, community engagement, data analysis, and laws regarding constitutional policing. It includes an executive director, an assistant director of law, a project manager and two performance auditors.
In November of 2022, two months after the mayor created the new team, the city hired Leigh Anderson as its first executive director. The executive director works with Cleveland employees working on the consent decree.
What has the Police Accountability Team done so far?
So far, members have met with Cleveland’s five police district commanders and done ride-alongs with officers in each district. They have also gone to meetings where residents and experts discuss policing, mental health and crime in their community.
The team has gone through crisis intervention training. They are also working with the Cleveland Division of Police and Case Western Reserve University to help with data analysis.
Police Accountability Team members have also started breaking down consent decree paragraphs into separate tasks. They’ve identified more than 1,000 tasks so far.
Can residents interact with the Police Accountability Team?
The team works mostly behind the scenes with the police department and other groups working on police oversight and reform.
However, one of its main goals is community engagement. Team members will start attending and presenting at district policing committee meetings to engage with community members. Each of Cleveland Police’s five district commanders holds a monthly public meeting to discuss safety with district residents and provide updates on crime in their areas.
