Cleveland police would need more certainty that a fleeing suspect is dangerous before engaging in a high-speed chase under proposed revisions to the vehicle pursuit policy from the Cleveland Division of Police and the Cleveland Community Police Commission (CPC).
CPC is seeking public input on the draft policy prior to the August meeting of its policy committee.
The most significant change from CPC is requiring “probable cause” (instead of just suspicion) that the driver or a passenger has committed a violent felony and is armed and dangerous before initiating a chase. Probable cause is a higher standard than suspicion. It is used in law enforcement to require some evidence that would lead a person to believe a crime is being committed.
“There’s been some discussion around how you know if someone is armed and dangerous,” Commissioner Shandra Benito told Signal Cleveland. “Would an officer need to have seen that firsthand, or is it just a report that the person had a gun or a weapon and wielded it? I think we still have some discussion that needs to happen about that.”
CPC also added new prohibitions on pursuits. If the suspect’s identity is known or is learned during the chase, and arresting them later “does not significantly increase the risk to the community,” then the pursuit should be stopped. No pursuits should happen between 2 and 5 p.m. weekdays during the Cleveland Metropolitan School District academic year.
One of the goals of these additions, said Commissioner Tera Coleman, is avoiding an incident like the death of 13-year-old Tamia Chappman, who was walking from her East Cleveland school to a nearby library when she was run down by a driver who was fleeing Cleveland police in a stolen car in 2019.
The Cleveland Division of Police’s own additions to the policy call for more communication between pursuing officers and supervisors. The Cleveland Division of Police made its additions prior to submitting the new plan to CPC, which is the final authority on police policies. CPD additions also charge supervisors with “continuously reassessing all factors … to determine whether the pursuit should continue”; and require a report “for every pursuit initiated including those that are terminated, without arrest or accident.”
The current draft of the policy is available here. Feedback can be emailed to [email protected].
This older draft is missing some elements described above but shows the additions made by the Cleveland Division of Police (in italics) prior to submitting it to CPC.
Black Shield member joins commission
City Council on Wednesday approved Luther Roddy to fill the last Community Police Commission vacancy. Roddy has been with the Cleveland Division of Police for 29 years, formerly serving as a patrol officer and currently assigned to an administrative role with The Black Shield Police Association, an organization for Black and minority officers. Roddy is first vice president of The Black Shield.
Since last year some council members had “demanded,” as Council President Blaine Griffin put it, that Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration nominate someone from The Black Shield to the commission.
At council’s committee of the whole meeting on Wednesday, Council Member Kevin Bishop said he’s known Roddy since the late 1970s and that “he is truly one of the most genuine, most trustworthy, most decent, most honest individuals that I’ve ever met in my life.”
Delanté Spencer Thomas, the city’s chief ethics officer, assured council members that Roddy and Black Shield leaders had discussed scenarios in which Roddy might have to recuse himself from a commission investigation or a vote involving discipline for a Black Shield member.
The city charter permits up to three current or recent law enforcement officers to serve on the commission if they are representatives of a police association. The Marshall Project – Cleveland reported on the Black Shield’s long history in 2024.