Day of peaceful protests ends in skirmishes, arrests

The Cleveland police department in an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department agreed to give officers better training on searches and seizures. In this photo from a demonstration on Saturday, May 23, 2015, police officers pat down a protestor.

(Joshua Gunter, Northeast Ohio Media Group)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An agreement between the U.S. Justice Department and Cleveland police establishes a model for searches and seizures to ensure that police encounters are free of constitutional violations.

More than five months of negotiations between federal and city officials resulted in a 105-page consent decree that addresses numerous concerns raised in a Justice Department report that blasted Cleveland's police department.

Searches and seizures were not part of the federal investigation and only briefly mentioned in the report released in December, but officials said they found troubling patterns in this area that they couldn't ignore.

Mayor Frank Jackson cited in an interview Monday decades worth of complaints from citizens who say police stopped them unfairly. Given the magnitude of the problem, city officials chose to address even though it was not one of the formal complaints lodged by federal officials.

"If you listen to the community and what they're talking about, you can't ignore the fact that it was a major concern," Jackson said. "If it could be supported by data or not was not relevant. You address the concern."

New policies have been agreed upon to protect citizens' constitutional rights and to ease some of the tension between police and the community.

Policies aim to deter profiling

In line with the implementation of a "bias-free" policing model, the new policy will prohibit officers from making stops based on a person's race, gender, ethnicity, national origin or perceived sexual orientation.

These factors, according to the decree, don't qualify as probable cause unless that information is part of a credible suspect description. Even in that case, a physical description must be accompanied by other identifying factors.

Officers also can't stop someone because they are in a high-crime area, according to the settlement. To justify an investigatory stop, there must be proof that a person has or is about to commit a crime.

When a suspect is taken into custody solely on charges of obstructing official business, resisting arrest or assaulting an officer, an officer must immediately call a supervisor to the scene. This will ensure the legitimacy of the initial stop.

Allegations of unjust stops by Cleveland police were a common theme in a decade's worth of lawsuits examined by Northeast Ohio Media Group following the release of the report. Several people in court documents described police encounters that started with a baseless stop. Many suits included allegations of excessive and even deadly force that cost the city millions of dollars in settlements.

Training will address constitutional rights

The consent decree also requires annual officer training that emphasizes Fourth Amendment issues related to searches and seizures. Officers will learn better methods for approaching citizens, including introducing themselves immediately and telling people why they are being stopped.

The new training model will also teach officers:

the difference between probable cause, reasonable suspicion and mere speculation as a basis for stopping someone.

the level of intrusion allowed in "pat-downs" and "frisks."

procedures for seizing evidence.

the effect that these approaches can have on community perception of police.

Pat down searches will be limited to people who police have reason to believe are armed and dangerous, according to the agreement. When officers ask for consent to search, they must inform citizens of their right to refuse.

All stops must be reported in detail

Federal investigators have also pointed out the department's flawed -- often nonexistent -- system for reporting police misconduct. As part of a push for more accountability across the department, written reports for searches and seizures will be subject to increased scrutiny.

The agreement prohibits the kind of "canned" and "boilerplate" reporting language that came under fire in the Justice Department report. New policies require officers to be more descriptive and back up their actions with legal reasoning.

Supervisors must review and sign off on all reports within 24 hours, according to the settlement. They have a week to document any stops, searches or arrests that violate policy.

If policies are violated, supervisors must dole out discipline or refer the incident to Internal Affairs investigators in a timely manner.

Finally, the supervisor's assessment will be handed over to a command-level official for approval. Commanders are to note reports that indicate a need for review of department policy, strategy, tactics or training.