Rough First Community Public meeting for the Cleveland Community Police Commission (CPC)

By R. A. Calhoun

The Cleveland Community Police Commission’s (CPC) first public community meeting was held at Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Resource and Recreation Center and hosted by Ward 1 councilman Joseph Jones. The meeting was rocky.  Members were late. There was confusion during the budget discussion, and policies and procedures (Rules) were discussed but not voted on.

Public comment was allowed starting with Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African-American boy, who on November 22, 2014, was killed in Cleveland, Ohio by Timothy Loehmann, a 26-year-old white police officer. Rice has concerns with the CPC forming an alliance with the police and the possible removal of Jason Goodrich, CPC Executive Director, and Shelly Williams, CPC Community Engagement Coordinator, who have been key to putting language together for the commission.

Understandably, the young commission had a dysfunctional conversation around the budget to be presented to Cleveland City Council.  Alana Garrett-Ferguson questioned why the final budget to be voted on was different from the budget discussed during the committee meeting. Audriana Rodriguez made a motion to approve the total budget during the committee meeting for $2,332,497. It was seconded and approved with a no vote from Alana Garrett-Ferguson.

Did the commission build its budget thru the lens of Cleveland City Council by watching the budget hearings? Did they look for expectations, points of emphasis, and who are the players supporting or against the commission?

A discussion about creating news releases or statements for the public about Tyre DeAndre Nichols, a 29-year-old man who died Jan. 10, three days after being arrested by Memphis Police in an incident that is under investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, became an item during the discussion.

Kyle Early, Cleveland Community Police Commission member said “the commission should not be fearful or hesitant to make statements that share our connection, our sympathy with those who experience horrific murders and the distrust of our police departments. Whether it’s in Cleveland or around the community, ah, around the country.”

John Adams, a commission member, said, “if we want to go thru a process and create a process by which we will streamline and know sort of what our processes and procedures are when we need to drop the public statement, I’m okay with that but as a black man, in this country, right now I am not okay with saying nothing about Tyre Nichols.”

For the Commission which was a hot topic during the last election, voted on and passed by the voters in Cleveland, there was a small turnout for the meeting.  Only about 15 to 20 people were present. Seven of those attending were a combination of reporters and city workers.

You can view the meeting at: CPC Community Meeting – Feb 8, 2023