City of Cleveland seeks applicants for Civilian Police Review Board with the application deadline August 26...CPRB members are paid $8,963 annually
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CLEVELAND, Ohio — The City of Cleveland, which is led by new Mayor Justin Bibb, the city's fourth Black mayor who took office in January, is looking for qualified applicants to fill three seats on the nine-member Civilian Police Review Board with the application deadline set for Aug 26. Candidates for these positions must be residents of the City of Cleveland at the time of the appointment. Selected applicants will be appointed to one of the following four-year terms:
One position's term lasts from Dec. 21, 2021, to Dec 20, 2025. The individual appointed to this term would also be eligible to apply for the new full four-year term that would begin Dec. 21, 2025.
Two positions' terms last from Aug. 9, 2022, to Aug. 8, 2026.
The compensation for CPRB members is $8,963 annually. To apply, submit a resume with work history and a cover letter to Ryan Puente, chief government affairs officer for the city, at rpuente@clevelandohio.gov by Fri, Aug. 26
Requirements: Persons applying to fill a position on the CPRB cannot be employed currently as a law enforcement officer and cannot be a current or former employee of the Cleveland Division of Police. Also, such persons cannot be currently employed by the City of Cleveland or by any public agency having a connection with the City of Cleveland, including county agencies and community development corporations.
The Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) was established per the city charter and is governed by the mayor and city council. The mayor appoints five members and the city council, led by council president Blaine Griffin, appoints the remaining four members. It has the power to review police misconduct complaints and recommend an investigation to the Office of Professional Standards (OPS) when such alleged misconduct is directed toward any person who is not a CDP employee.
The OPS reports directly to the CPRB, and the CPRB reviews the investigations completed by the OPS, holds public hearings on the complaints, and then recommends an administrative resolution for each of the complaints.
City officials said Tuesday in a press release that applicants are encouraged to review City of Cleveland Charter Section 115, which governs the CPRB and OPS, and which was significantly reformed following the passage of police reform Issue 24 in 2021 by Cleveland voters. Issue 24 created a community review commission to oversee CPRB, though pursuant to state law, police union collective agreements remain applicable regarding ultimate discipline and other terms of employment with the city.
Whether parts of Issue 24 conflict with the police collective bargaining agreement remains to be seen, and if so, the issue will likely be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, if properly challenged by the union that has standing to pursue the issue.
The city now requires that two members of the CPRB "should be attorneys with experience representing victims of police misconduct or criminally prosecuting police misconduct." Preference will be given to candidates who meet that description, city officials have said.
The city remains a party to a court-monitored consent decree for police reforms with the U.S. Department of Justice that was instituted in 2014 behind high profile police shooting deaths of Black people since 2012, including the "137 shots" police shooting of Malissa Williams and Timothy Russel in 2012 and 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, not to mention rapper Kenneth "Ball" Smith, Brandon Jones and a string of others.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com the most read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and in the Midwest Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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