Has Cleveland PD solved its excessive force problem? City wants out from federal oversight

City and feds move to close oversight chapter

Cleveland and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a joint motion on Feb. 19, 2026, asking a federal judge to end the police consent decree that has governed the city’s police department since 2015.

The city argues the department has reached substantial compliance with the decree’s goals. Mayor Justin Bibb said reforms are now self-sustaining, and it is time for the city to return to local control.

Federal oversight started after troubling findings

The DOJ launched an investigation into the Cleveland Division of Police in March 2013. By December 2014, investigators found that officers engaged in a pattern of excessive and unreasonable force.

The findings described unnecessary deadly force, retaliatory use of less-lethal force, and excessive force against people in mental health crisis.

The department also rarely disciplined officers for misconduct.

On June 12, 2015, a judge entered the consent decree, requiring hundreds of reforms in the use of force, training, and community policing.

Three cases put Cleveland in the national spotlight

The investigation came after a series of cases that drew national attention.

In November 2012, more than 100 officers were involved in a high-speed chase that ended with the deaths of two unarmed people, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, who were shot at 137 times.

Two years later, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed while holding a toy gun at a recreation center.

That same month, 37-year-old Tanisha Anderson died after officers restrained her face down during a mental health crisis call.

A decade of monitoring shows most force is legal

An independent monitoring team has tracked the department’s progress against hundreds of benchmarks over nearly 11 years.

In a February 2026 assessment, monitor Christine Cole and her team reviewed 272 use-of-force cases from 2024 and found that 97% were constitutional.

Cases where force crossed the line were addressed by the department.

The team also found substantial compliance in crisis intervention, search and seizure, training, recruitment, and staffing.

City credits a culture shift, not just policy changes

Mayor Bibb said the city did not just rewrite its rules but changed how officers think and act on the job.

The city’s Police Accountability Team pointed to comprehensive policy reform, stronger accountability systems, and better data collection as key drivers.

The monitoring team found that the department’s crisis intervention program met or exceeded consent decree requirements, with force used in less than half a percent of crisis calls.

In search and seizure, about 95% of stops were supported by reasonable suspicion, the monitor found. Police Chief Dorothy Todd said officers now police constitutionally and follow proper training.

A detailed breakdown of those findings appears in the city’s official compliance report from the monitoring team.

Motion came before every benchmark was done

The city and DOJ acknowledged that Cleveland has not fully met every benchmark in the decree. Mayor Bibb said he was not declaring mission accomplished but called it a significant milestone.

The joint motion was filed before the monitoring team finished assessments in all areas. The team had submitted seven assessments in the six months before the motion, but additional reviews remain.

Critics note the motion asks the judge to close out oversight based on substantial, not complete, compliance.

Community groups say it is too soon

The Cleveland chapter of the NAACP, Black Lives Matter Cleveland, and Citizens for a Safer Cleveland all released statements opposing the motion.

The Community Police Commission, which handles police discipline and policies, called the move premature and said oversight should only end when an agreed-upon system proves reforms can last long term.

Civil rights attorney James Hardiman said calling the department in substantial compliance is misleading, given the gaps that remain.

Former city law director Subodh Chandra called the motion a betrayal of Cleveland residents.

Tamir Rice’s mother says the community is still scared

Samaria Rice, Tamir’s mother, said she had an anxiety attack when she learned about the motion. She said the community remains scared of the Cleveland police.

Rice noted that Mayor Bibb had campaigned alongside her and other advocates on expanding civilian oversight of police, and she said she now feels he no longer supports that mission.

Chandra argued the city should continue federal monitoring for years until it reaches full compliance across every area of the decree.

A Trump order pushed DOJ to review police deals

In April 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to review all active police consent decrees nationwide.

The order called for modifying or ending agreements that “unduly impede” law enforcement.

Since then, the DOJ has moved to dismiss or end consent decrees in Louisville, Minneapolis, and other cities, and closed investigations into departments in Phoenix, Memphis, and several others.

A DOJ attorney said at a Feb. 21 court hearing that Cleveland’s motion is based on facts, not politics. The full text of that executive order on law enforcement is publicly available through the White House.

Mayor says this push started under Biden

Mayor Bibb said he began asking what it would take to end the consent decree after his election in 2021, during the Biden administration.

He said the city and DOJ would have sought to close out the decree regardless of who won the 2024 election. The consent decree was originally designed to last at least five years, but stretched to nearly 11.

Bibb said the independent monitor would stay with the department for at least a year, and the city would continue working with the DOJ even if the decree is dismissed.

Cleveland passed Tanisha’s Law weeks before the motion

On Feb. 2, 2026, the Cleveland City Council unanimously passed Tanisha’s Law, named for Tanisha Anderson, who died in police custody during a mental health crisis in 2014.

The law creates a Bureau of Community Crisis Response within the city’s Emergency Medical Services division and requires trained dispatchers and licensed social workers to handle nonviolent 911 calls that do not need police.

Some consent decree requirements around crisis intervention could end if the decree is terminated, making Tanisha’s Law a potential local safeguard, according to Ideastream Public Media.

The judge holds all the cards now

Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. has the final say on whether the consent decree ends.

At a Feb. 21 hearing, Oliver said he was surprised to learn of the motion at the same time as the public. He said the parties were not required to give him advance notice, but that it would have been appreciated.

Oliver said he will review the motion carefully and seek input from parties beyond the city and DOJ before ruling.

He also emphasized that the decree was never meant to be anti-police but was designed to improve policing and build community trust.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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