CLEVELAND — Some Cleveland leaders are concerned about the abrupt departure of federal police consent decree monitor Hassan Aden and how it could create some unanswered questions about the future of the Cleveland police reform effort.
Aden has led the monitoring since 2019, but so far there is no word on who will replace him. News 5 has learned Federal Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. is expected to appoint an interim monitor in the near future. No reason has been given as to why Aden decided to resign.
Cleveland Council Safety Committee Chairman Michael Polensek told News 5 Aden was set to meet with his committee in a few weeks to explain the status of Cleveland police progress. Polensek said he was hoping Aden could explain what he called the ambiguous federal billing of millions of dollars to Cleveland taxpayers who are footing the bill for federal police oversight.
“Well there are a lot of questions, we were set to meet with him on Nov. 9 to get a briefing by the monitor," Polensek said. “We want to drill down, what are you actually billing us for, and we want to see an itemized breakdown on the billing.”
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb's office issued a short statement on Aden's resignation.
"We can confirm that Hassan Aden has resigned. We thank him for his efforts on behalf of the city and wish him the best," the state said.
Meanwhile, the process has started to confirm 13 nominees to Cleveland's first Community Police Commission. The commission will have final say on disciplinary actions taken against Cleveland police misconduct.
Nominee Jan Ridgeway, who is also interim Director of Garden Valley Neighborhood House told News 5 the commission will need plenty of training on city law, city charter and city procedures before it can rule on its first police case.
“We hope to improve some of the inequities that exist between the community and police, without putting blame anywhere," Ridgeway said. “But we must first understand policy, procedures, infrastructure and somehow using that as a way to build trust a credibility."
Ridgeway explained there needs to be a deeper dive on the issue before moving forward on making change.
“Even understanding the police union contract, all of this. We have to move forward with a thorough background of how we can move, and what we need to do to improve our current situation. As much training as possible needs to be in place before we can have a positive move toward change," Ridgeway added.
Cleveland Law Director Mark Griffin said those on the commission will receive full city support.
“We've put together a group that reflects the diversity of Cleveland," Griffin said. “We are down 42% in use-of-force, our crisis intervention team which avoids arrests is way up. But we have to prove to the court and the Department of Justice that this is permanent.”
“They will be able to decide their own rules of practice. I would expect that there would be hearings and then a vote about whether to review cases and then when they review cases how they will take steps one way or the other with respect to discipline and policy,” Griffin added.
Griffin also explained they are looking into other options for the new rules.
“We are going to provide whatever legal support to help draft those rules. We’re also looking for training and education so that when they come in they’ll able to understand what the laws are, how they should operate.”
Griffin said the process in confirming the commission nominees will begin with a hearing conducted by Councilman Joe Jones and the Mayor’s appointment committee of the city council. The confirmations would then go to the full city council for approval, and then a signature by the Mayor by resolution.
It's a process Griffin will take 2 to 4 weeks.
Cleveland Police Union President Jeff Follmer told News 5 he remains open-minded about police commission oversight but said the union remains poised for a legal battle if the commission steps out of bounds.
“I mean I’m hoping that we can all work together and things work out right,” Follmer said. “We have a contract in place, we’re protected by that contract. We have lawyers that are ready to go to court if they violate anything.”
