CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The Cleveland Heights Mayor gave his State of the City address Thursday night, and it gave a glimpse of potential big changes coming to this suburban area.
I’ll be breaking down the most important topics of the night below.
Cleveland Heights Police involved in shooting of 18-year-old Christian Thomas
As Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren’s Q&A portion was coming to a close, he took it upon himself to answer a handful of questions asked of him by Christian Thomas’ family.
Thomas was 18 years old when police were called to his family home in August over a disturbance between him and his father.
Cleveland Heights Police body camera video shows officers interacting with a relative who told them that Christian had a gun, but they said they didn’t know what led to the dispute.
RELATED: Family of teen shot by Cleveland Heights police want answers as death anniversary date approaches
The police video later shows the interaction officers had with Christian’s father, who told officers he didn’t want to leave his son inside after police asked him to leave his home.
As the body camera footage proceeds, there is a moment when an officer says he sees Thomas at the front door with a gun in his hand.
That’s when police say officers heard what they described as a loud crash and a single gunshot from inside the home, followed by officers firing their weapons when they said Christian left the home holding a gun.
Outside the home, three officers fired their weapons and struck Thomas.
He later died as a result of the police shooting.
RELATED: Family of man shot by Cleveland Heights police ask city to release all bodycam footage
The first question asked of Mayor Seren: Has the software been updated so the Cleveland Heights Police Department can access [body camera footage] adequately?
Seren explained the body worn video was quickly downloaded and transmitted to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. That video was handed over without redactions.
The problem, according to Seren, was when law enforcement had to make redactions in order to publicly release the footage.
“The software we used to redact is too time intensive,” he told a room full of Cleveland Heights residents.
The mayor said he has since instructed the police department to implement a new software, and one with a free trial has been selected.
Next question: Has an administrative review of the shooting started?
Seren said he created a Bureau of Professional Standards, which is headed by Cleveland Heights Captain Ernest Williams. That bureau was created in 2023.
It’s tasked with investigating complaints against the department, including the fatal shooting of Thomas.
“Police investigating police!,” one person in the audience shouted.
Seren went on to explain a criminal investigation into what happened is occurring, and BCI is collecting evidence.
To the mayor’s understanding, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office has decided the case will go to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, where a grand jury will later decide the outcome.
RELATED: Cleveland Heights police offer additional details about shooting of 18-year-old man
As for the administrative review of the case, the mayor said he will be involved in the discussion, but what happens falls on the police chief and the Bureau of Professional Standards.
The third question asked: Why haven’t you released the involved officers’ names and their personal files?
Seren said the City of Cleveland Heights is not legally allowed to release that information.
According to Marsy’s Law, both the victim and the accused have the right to be treated with respect, fairness and dignity throughout the criminal justice process. Seren cites this law as the reason for withholding the personal information.
“This is not a choice of the city. This is a legal requirement,” he added.
And lastly: Are you in support of a civilian-led police review board?
I spoke with the mayor exclusively following his State of the City address, and this is one of the first questions I followed up on.
“One of the attendees here tonight is an associate director with Every Town for Gun Safety. That's a person I'd like to sit down and have a conversation with about how that works, how it potentially works in other cities because she is very plugged in to what other cities are doing around gun violence in particular,” Seren stated.
He also wants to speak with out-of-state politicians, like the Baltimore Mayor, as he describes him as very proactive when it comes to gun violence.
“Beyond that, I would like to sit down with some of our council members and have some conversations. I don't know that it would need to be legislatively created. But if that's something that rises to the level of producing legislation instead of having it be a more administrative function, then we can have that conversation as well,” the mayor noted.
He’s also hoping to connect with the community and the police department about what a panel like this would mean.
“I'd like to work through that though in sort of an honest open conversation. Because on the one hand, I get that having a group of people judging my actions when they don't necessarily have any experience or expertise in the field, whatever that field might be to have a clear perception of what it means to be an officer in a situation. I can see that concern," said Seren. "I can also see that any time you have law enforcement in a community, there are always going to be two sides of that interaction. I think there is a wide variety of ways this can be helpful or harmful to this conversation, that particular idea. I'm interested in seeing how it's worked in other communities.”
A question not publicly addressed but previously brought to the attention of News 5 by Thomas’ family attorney is: Why are Cleveland Heights police officers equipped with AR rifles? I asked Mayor Seren Thursday night.
“I don't believe I am qualified to express in an intelligent way the reasons for carrying a particular type of firearm versus another in one situation or another when it comes to policing. I think that there will be opportunity for us to have that conversation and I think it would behoove us to start discovering sort of the whys behind certain practices and procedures,” Mayor Seren stated.
Cleveland Heights Caledonia Avenue safety project delays
News 5 recently reported on the residential frustrations over the safety concern of Caledonia Avenue.
The project, originally slated for completion in August, was meant to create a temporary traffic circle at the intersection of Caledonia Avenue and Winsford and Dresden roads to slow speeding drivers.
RELATED: Residents frustrated by delayed traffic safety project at Cleveland Heights intersection
The intersection has been the site of 30 crashes since 2010, some resulting in serious injuries or death.
Seren previously told News 5 the project would be a temporary installation allowing the city to gather data on traffic flow and community response.
The project calls for the placement of removable barriers to form a traffic circle, forcing drivers to slow down and navigate the intersection more cautiously. However, as of the week of Oct. 29, no changes have been made.
“We don't want to do something that will create a larger problem than the problem we're solving in any particular instance,” the mayor said in response to my question regarding delays. “There was a determination made that the time frame we have between when we were actually able to get certain engineering questions resolved and when we might have to start plowing streets wasn't sufficient to make it sort of worth our while to place something temporary there.”
He said he’s been in discussion with the Cleveland Heights director of public works, trying to work on a compromise for a semi-permanent solution.
With winter approaching quickly, Seren added it wouldn’t make sense to construct temporary barriers.
“We'll be able to see and respond to the change in the road structure over the winter. It'll also give us a chance to get people acclimated during the winter when maybe people are driving a little bit more cautiously because of things like snow and ice,” he stated.
A roundabout will go up at that intersection, but when construction will start is unknown.
“I don't have that answer right now. One of the things I can say is that I will be pushing to get that in place as quickly as possible so that we can have as much runway under our feet before the snows come,” the mayor said.
The funding for the project is there, though, according to Seren.
Cleveland Heights Climate Action Resiliency Plan
Mayor Seren said climate change cannot be solved alone through the actions of Cleveland Heights, but he’s hoping to be part of the bigger-picture solution.
“I did drop one pretty big bombshell. Our hope, our goal is for carbon neutrality by 2050. I know a lot of communities are working through this kind of plan and setting goals for themselves. We set a goal of a 30% reduction in our emissions by 2030,” Seren explained.
Cleveland Heights has placed air quality sensors throughout the city.
“We’re going to expand on that network so we can have a better, more granular understanding of specific local source emission problems and air quality problems that maybe we're producing right here in our neighborhoods,” the mayor said.
The plan is only in the draft phase as of Thursday.
There is an open comment portion on the plan. CLICK HERE for more.
New hires
Cleveland Heights has hired an organizational performance coordinator and a chief building official. Both positions are a first for the city.
“We hired our first organizational performance coordinator, and I have really, really high hopes for the position, but also the person in the position. We're going to take this organization in a systemic way and not just look at sort of the cold, you know, these are the standard operating procedures,” the mayor said.
The Mayor’s full State of the City address will be published on the city’s YouTube by Friday.
