CLEVELAND — Former Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond is now in a new role as the city's public safety director, but it's not necessarily a permanent job.
The city is considering what a search will look like and whether it will be national.
We've seen this before in Cleveland, not too long ago.
Mayor Justin Bibb went in-house for top replacements after Karrie Howard resigned as public safety director—a move the mayor has done before.
"It's a tightrope the mayor has to walk deciding what is best for the people of Cleveland," said Case Western Reserve University Criminal Law Professor Michael Benza.
Former Safety Director Karrie Howard went to the scene of a crash in Warrensville Heights involving Assistant Safety Director Jakimah Dye.
The city called Howard's involvement protocol.
But one day before Howard resigned, the city launched an internal investigation into Howard involving commuter policy oversight.
The changes in command were announced all at once.
"It seems like it all happened very quickly," Benza said.
Deputy Chief Dorothy Todd is the new police chief, permanently, according to the city.
But Chief Wayne Drummond's role as public safety director isn't.
"It's highly unlikely that there weren't some discussions between some people about this, the timing of having everything all lined up and ready to go. When they make the announcements...makes it sound like people knew this was coming," Benza said.
The mayor's office is now determining what the search will look like for a permanent safety director.
If the search goes national, it's expected the city will bring in a firm to help.
That was the plan for a national search, which never happened when Drummond was promoted to replace Calvin Williams as chief.
Benza says that staying internal could have benefits.
"They do know the culture, they do know how things work and have buy-in, especially from the rank and file officers because this is one of our own," Benza said.
But fresh eyes could rejuvenate the police department.
"They do come without the baggage of having to come through the culture and the experiences of the Cleveland Police Department, which as we know is one of the issues in the consent decree," Benza said.
Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Andy Gasiewski has yet to speak with officers about changes at the top.
He says that right now, they're getting feedback on the new 12-hour shifts that began in January.
"We are just looking at it to see what the officers are running into day-to-day operations issues and making sure it's working for the officers," Gasiewski said.
The union is less than 12 months away from negotiating a new contract.
Gasiewski is tight-lipped about what he'd like to see from the new command.
"I'd like to address that at the table with the city," Gasiewski said.
Gasiewski says new blood gives a different perspective. But there's familiarity in Drummond and Todd with their division histories.
News 5 Investigators asked Gasiewski how familiarity helps.
"Cause their police backgrounds, they understand and know where the officers are coming from in certain scenarios," Gasiewski said.
A swearing-in ceremony for Drummond and Todd has not been scheduled, but the city says it'll likely be toward the end of the week.
You can watch more about Howard's resignation in the player below:
RELATED: Cleveland Public Safety Director Karrie Howard resigns; new police chief announced
