The Obama administration published a formal edict to assume by fiat control and law enforcement across the country. It appears this is occurring city by city as the Justice Department under AG Eric Holder passing the baton to AG Loretta Lynch where Cleveland, Ohio is the next victim.
Cleveland Police are fighting back while the department sits on the knife’s edge with the Federal government. It comes down to money. This is while the Cleveland Police Department does community outreach.
The extortion begin where the U.S. Department of Justice issued a 110 page report which states the demands to be made by Cleveland Police. That report in full is found here.
Items such as discipline, training, weapons use including non-lethal methods, mental health and body cameras as well as more items come into full play with laying at the feet of Cleveland police dramatically reduced authority and community management. This will costs lives all around for officers as they are now essentially suspects in each citizen encounter.
Cleveland police union says Justice Department reforms would endanger police
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The head of the Cleveland police department’s patrol union said aspects of the agreement that mandates sweeping reforms to the city’s police department could put officers in danger.
Officers could be hesitant to draw their guns because doing so would result in more paperwork under the terms of the agreement, Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association president Steve Loomis said Wednesday. The agreement requires an officer to complete a report each time he or she points a gun at a suspect.
“It’s going to get somebody killed,” Loomis said. “There’s going to be a time when someone isn’t going to want to do that paperwork, so he’s going to keep that gun in its holster.”
Cleveland and the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled the agreement, known as a consent decree, Tuesday. It is meant to transform a police department that too often used excessive force and failed to conduct thorough internal investigations, according to an investigation by the Justice Department. The agreement will become legally binding once approved by a federal judge.
Loomis said he believes the 105 pages of reforms are a response to high-profile incidents that have happened nationwide, rather than to incidents that have happened in Cleveland, including the 2012 police chase that saw 13 officers fire at two unarmed people 137 times, the police shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice and the death of a mentally ill woman after officers forced her to the ground.
“This is a political agenda,” he said. “This has nothing to do with the actions of the men and women of the Cleveland police department.”
A Justice Department report released in December said that officers misused Tasers, routinely struck citizens in the head with the butt of their guns, shot at fleeing suspects, beat citizens prone in handcuffs and were inadequately trained to handle people with mental illnesses.
The outspoken Loomis said a Justice Department investigation last year overstates how often officers use force. Officers arrested more than 31,000 people last year and used force approximately 400 times, he said. Read more here.
