A Cleveland City Council member blamed the police department's top brass for failing to adequately equip officers after the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team's Second Semiannual Report revealed serious problems with the city's resources.
During a special safety committee meeting with the monitor team Wednesday, Mike Polensek (Ward 8) said, "What we have seen repeatedly in this city is that the rank and file are held accountable at the end of the day and the people at the top never change or they get promoted. They get promoted."
The report said the department's police cars, in-car computers, and computer-aided dispatch system are "inadequate" and Cleveland is "decades behind."
The report cites a specific example highlighting the police department's serious lack of "strategic planning."
It says 105 computers purchased through a state grant have been sitting in storage since early 2016 and there is currently no plan in place to deploy the terminals to the department's five districts.
Matthew Barge, Cleveland Independent Monitor, said, "We just need to put the terminals on the desks." He hopes the unused computers provide an example the city can use to "learn from and change."
The report also said the Office of Professional Standards and Police Review Board continue to provide significant challenges when it comes to federally mandated reforms.
OPS is supposed to investigate civilian complaints. The monitor's report found 81% of OPS complaints from 2016 remained unresolved at the end of last November.
However, the team said OPS reached a critical milestone when it created its first-ever operation manual last year.
The team also said the new use of force and crisis intervention policies will help officers constitutionally police the streets of Cleveland.
However, officers have yet to be trained on the new policies.
