By Scott Hiaasen, The Cleveland Plain Dealer
The U.S. Justice Department will monitor the way Cleveland police officers use their weapons under an agreement reached this week, ending a three-year investigation.
The city avoided a lawsuit from the Justice Department by repeatedly revising the Police Department’s policies governing the use of deadly force by its officers. Under the agreement, signed Tuesday by city officials, Justice Department investigators will oversee how the Police Department complies with its new policies, and how it investigates police shootings, for one year.
The federal investigators praised the Police Department for improving training for officers, expanding its investiga tions into officer shootings, and creating stricter guidelines for when shootings are justified.
For example, Cleveland police officers are now prohibited from shooting into moving vehicles unless there’s an imminent danger to the public or other officers.
The changes followed a critical July 2002 letter from federal investigators who said some police shootings “may have been avoidable” and posed needless risks to officers and the public.
City officials noted that the agreement is not as onerous as settlements in other cities, including Cincinnati and Buffalo, where the Justice Department also questioned police practices.
But after a two-year period in which 10 people died in Cleveland police shootings, the federal agreement may not settle the issue.
The local chapter of the NAACP asked a group of lawyers to review police procedures after the Jan. 18 shooting death of Brandon Robinson. NAACP President George Forbes said he has talked to witnesses who contradict police assertions about the shooting.
City Councilman Zack Reed also has questioned the Robinson shooting, and has called on Mayor Jane Campbell to have cameras installed on the dashboards of all Cleveland patrol cars to record traffic stops.