I-TEAM: How long will Cleveland police be watched by $750/hour monitor group?
CLEVELAND (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team has found the city of Cleveland looking for some direction on how to get out from under a group earning up to $750 an hour in taxpayer dollars.
A new federal court filing shows the city telling a judge it can't fix the police department without knowing how that's being measured.
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For a decade, a federal monitoring team has overseen reform in the Cleveland Division of Police.
The city just told a judge, 'The city cannot be expected to ascertain its current level of compliance … when the monitor has failed to explain how and by what standards it draws its conclusions.'
This comes after a series of I-Team reports exposing the monitoring team collecting big money, but not giving any indication of how long this will continue.
In fact, a plan for oversight in 2025 shows more than 500 points outlining goals and assignments and plans for review on use of force, and training and more. Yet, even checking every one of those boxes would not automatically mean the end of Cleveland police being under watch.
We also recently exposed a member of the monitoring team getting with your money to watch neighborhood meetings and police awards ceremonies.
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The group also billed the city to write a sympathy note when an officer died.
And, just this week, we revealed members of the police monitoring team has charged taxpayers to answer questions from the I-Team. Even charging to respond by saying there would be no comment.
Again, now, the city wants a federal judge to 'ensure that the Monitoring Team's conclusions on police accountability are grounded in evidence, regardless of whether they suggest … new training programs or changing … procedures.'
A previously scheduled court hearing on the monitoring around the Cleveland Police Consent Decree is expected soon.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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