I-Team: Impact on your streets if police oversight ends
CLEVELAND (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team has uncovered more about a new push to end oversight of the Cleveland Police by a group earning $750 an hour.
On Tuesday, we revealed all federal consent decrees are now under review. So we investigated what this could mean on your streets.
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Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley spoke out, saying Cleveland Police often hesitate to take back the streets because they're under too much federal oversight.
The Prosecutor pointed to video from street takeovers in Cleveland last year. That showed stunt drivers doing donuts around police cars and a crowd jumping on a patrol car with an officer inside. Yet no one at that time got arrested.
O'Malley said, 'The officers are sitting there, humiliated, not being able to act because they're handcuffed.'
He spoke out as President Donald Trump ordered a federal review of all consent decrees.
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The Prosecutor believes that kind of oversight is no longer needed in Cleveland. He added, 'There was a reason the Consent Decree was entered into, but we're well past that. It seems to me that this has become more about money for those who are monitoring it than benefit to the citizens of Cleveland.'
The Consent Decree in Cleveland has been going on for more than a decade, and it has cost city taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
Councilman Michael Polensek said the total is at least $45.8 million.
The I-Team has shown you time and time again how members of that monitoring team have billed taxpayers for big money. Not just for working on policies and procedures, but simply for watching an awards ceremony, writing a sympathy note after an officer died, and even for talking to the I-Team.
U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno recently spoke out to the I-Team, calling for an end to the Consent Decree in Cleveland.
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For this story, his office issued a statement.
It said, 'Under President Trump, law and order is back, and I'm grateful that the administration is shining a light on the corruption around consent decrees. It's past time for Cleveland to end its far-left, Obama-era consent decree that put handcuffs on police officers and cost taxpayers millions of dollars – money that is desperately needed to help our communities.'
This month, at a city council meeting, activist Brenda Bickerstaff called for police oversight to continue.
She said, 'The consent decree is important. Why is it not important? I don't understand what is not important.'
In the meantime, City of Cleveland Law Director Mark Griffin said on Wednesday, 'We are committed to constitutional reform with or without the federal government.'
There is no word yet on how officials in Washington will determine if a Consent Decree should end. The review is expected to be done in 60 days.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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