CLEVELAND (AP) – Cleveland will be required to devise a new use-of-force policy for its police department and have officers trained to implement it by the end of the year.
The requirement is included in the first-year plan for a consent decree. It will be submitted Monday to a federal judge by the independent monitoring team responsible for overseeing Cleveland’s reform efforts.
The city and U.S. Justice Department reached an agreement last year on a consent decree after a DOJ investigation concluded that Cleveland police officers had shown a pattern of using excessive force and violating people’s civil rights.
The first-year plan also calls for Cleveland to create a policing model that emphasizes closer ties with the community and a policy on how officers are supposed to do their jobs free of prejudice.