CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association overwhelmingly issued a vote of no confidence in Cleveland Public Safety Director Karrie Howard Wednesday morning following comments by Howard at a public forum regarding the history of Irish people on the police and other local government agencies.
With a vote of 868 to 38, 95.8% of the members of the Cleveland Police union voted that they agree with the position of no confidence in Howard.
The private vote was started Monday after Howard made comments at a forum last week about the deadly police beating of Tyree Nichols in Memphis.
“I can point to history where it works in this country,” said Howard at the forum last Monday, which was also attended by Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond. “Irish at the time were not considered white, the Irish flooded the police departments, the Irish flooded fire departments, the Irish flooded safety forces, to the point that we have bagpipes and kilts and all this green when we celebrate it. When we see a problem, when we talk about rebuilding, we are at a critical time when we can absolutely rebuild."
Days later, Cleveland Fraternal Order of Police President James O’Malley said Howard’s comments were not sitting well with Irish CPD rank-and-file.
“I would say it’s more of a stereotype, kind of like the drunk Irishman, which is obviously offensive to people,” said O’Malley. “That’s the context that I’m getting from it."
Later in the week, Howard released a statement apologizing for the comments, which read, in part:
“During the panel discussion, I attempted to use a historical point to illustrate how a group of people created a culture of change by becoming part of the institution they sought to reform. These comments were intended to convey sincere admiration for the Irish Clevelanders who shaped our city by being the change they wanted to see—a point that I failed to fully articulate. Again, I deeply apologize for any pain or offense these comments have caused.”
At the Wednesday news conference announcing the results of the no confidence vote, CPPA president Jeff Follmer was among the police union members who maintained that Howard’s comments were biased.
“During that form, you could tell quite obviously that he was biased. The statement speaks for itself. The video is out to everybody. We actually conducted a vote because our members were just saying, ‘How can you get away with this?’”
On Wednesday afternoon, Bibb issued the following statement:
Recent comments made by Chief Director of Public Safety Karrie Howard have upset and angered many in our community.
The Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association (CPPA), Fraternal Order of Police Cleveland Lodge No. 8, and International Association of Firefighters Local 93 have reached out to me regarding these comments. Earlier today, the CPPA released the results of a vote of no confidence they held regarding Howard’s leadership.
I hear your frustration and I respect your concerns.
As the son of a police officer and firefighter, I have the utmost admiration and gratitude for the work that our first responders do. I hold the professionals who bravely serve our city in the highest regard, and this is a situation that we take very seriously.
We simply will not tolerate discrimination of any kind in any department in this administration.
As you know, Chief Howard has issued an apology and I believe that apology is sincere. As many of us who do our work in the public eye know, there are times when we make errors in judgement and fail to express ourselves well.
Chief Director Howard works hard each and every day to keep our city safe for all residents. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is committed to accountability for himself and for the department. There are countless challenges that his guidance has helped us to navigate successfully, and I have full confidence in his ability to continue to lead the Department of Public Safety.
My hope is that this is a situation that we can learn from and that we will continue to have hard conversations that help us build bridges and heal divides.
News 5 anchor DeLaun Dillard will have a full report on News 5 at 5 p.m.
Watch our report from last week when the CPPA initially announced their intention to hold a vote of no confidence:
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