After ten years of federal monitoring, could the Trump Administration end Cleveland’s consent decree? News 5 Investigators took that question to the man overseeing the reforms here.
May marks a decade for the consent decree to reform police practices and policies. Federal Monitor Karl Racine has been overseeing it for the last two years. He says he’s seen significant progress, but more work is needed.
The consent decree was born out of a chase where police fired 137 shots at two unarmed people.
The Department of Justice investigated and found a pattern of excessive force.
“There is no doubt that the community has concerns, historic, around the manner in which policing has occurred in Cleveland, that’s why the consent decree is here,” Racine said.
Racine and Cleveland Police Chief Annie Todd sat down with News 5 investigators to discuss the consent decree.
Racine said he’s focused on drafting new policies and training for officers. They’re now looking closer at what’s happening in the street.
"It appears to me that we are on the right path now of improvement and assessing for compliance. Many more assessments need to occur but progress has been made,” Racine said.
This week, Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking her position on using her power to end Cleveland’s consent decree.
RELATED: Sen. Moreno asks new attorney general to reexamine Cleveland's consent decree
He wrote in a statement, “Law enforcement officers need to be able to do their jobs and enforce the law without politicians holding them back.”
Racine believes no matter what, the consent decree will remain in full force under the full authority of the federal judge.
“I have read the Senator’s proposal and we've also looked at the law. The law is clear, a settlement agreement that has turned into a consent decree where a federal district judge has legal authority is not subject to be overruled by an executive order or by an act of the President of the United States,” Racine said.
Racine said there is often a misunderstanding that this process will produce a perfect new police department.
“What we want to do is be substantially better than what we have been in the past, that’s the real standard,” Racine said.
"This isn’t a test where you say you’ve reached you have an A plus, or you have 100% this is about seeing substantial change and the Division of Police and the community feeling it that’s what the overall goal is here,” Todd said.
We asked Racine how far beyond ten years he thinks the consent decree will go.
“Well, I think the Chief and I share a sense of urgency around working really hard to get all the areas of the consent decree to a place where they can be fairly assessed and then we’ll let the chips fall where they may with a respect to a positive assessment or an assessment that might need more work,” Racine said.
Cleveland still has a lot of work to do to comply with the consent decree requirements since it agreed to federal oversight 10 years ago. Part of the initial concerns were that police violated people's rights during traffic stops and searches.
Our exclusive investigation with the Marshall Project Cleveland revealed a troubling pattern about who police stopped and searched. Today, Racine commented on our findings for the first time.
Along with the Marshall Project, we analyzed nearly 17,000 traffic stops. We found Black people were stopped twice as often as white people and searched three times as often.
RELATED: Cleveland police stop and search Black drivers at higher rates despite DOJ oversight
"Any data that shows disparities are a concern to the monitoring team," Racine said.
According to Racine, his team is working on its own assessment of Cleveland traffic stops.
"So while that data was important, and I'm happy that you report on it, I think the more rigorous analysis will be revealed after our monitoring team's search and and seizure assessment," he said.
Todd acknowledged it's a concern that people feel targeted because of the color of their skin. She also said that her officers pull over a vehicle, not a person, during a traffic stop.
"I'm not going to pass judgment on what our men and women do on a daily basis," she said.
The two appeared to be on the same page during this interview. Behind the scenes, there's a battle between Racine and the city over your money.
In court documents, the city says that costs have skyrocketed under Racine. After all, they billed Cleveland nearly $500,000 for just the first half of 2024. At the same time, the city had just over 1,100 officers—more than 200 fewer called for in the city's budget.
For three years, our series Dangerously Understaffed has covered the department's staffing crisis. Some officers and politicians have blamed federal oversight for pushing officers out the door.
But Racine says a consent decree can decrease crime and increase officers' morale.
A status conference over the billing dispute is scheduled for later this month. The monitoring team releases a report every six months detailing the city's progress toward police reforms. The next report is expected to be released in March.
