Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson says he is not blaming police officials for problems detailed in a Justice Department report describing a pattern or practice of officers using excessive force and violating citizens' civil rights. Jackson says there are problems within the Cleveland police department, but deflected most of the blame to officers, their supervisors and an external system that sometimes shields officers from punishment.
Jackson says Safety Director Michael McGrath and Special Assistant Martin Flask will not lose their jobs for their oversight of the problems, despite calls from the community to fire them. Next week, the city and DOJ are scheduled to begin negotiating a consent decree similar to one Columbus officials signed early last decade after DOJ made similar allegations here.