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Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Steve Loomis, far right, participated in a roundtable discussion with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, his running mate Gov. Mike Pence and other labor leaders Sept. 5, 2016 in Brook Park.

((AP Photo/Evan Vucci))

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The union representing Cleveland's rank-and-file police officers voted overwhelming Friday to endorse Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association voted 216-68 to endorse Trump over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. The balloting process took 12 hours, union president Steve Loomis said in a statement to members.

Several officers told cleveland.com this week that they worried a vote to endorse Trump could risk eroding the relationship between officers and minority communities. The department has been working to rebuild those relationships after a series of controversial deaths involving police.

The president of the union representing black officers worried the vote for Trump -- who has made a series of statements that have drawn criticism from black and Hispanic voters -- could divide the community.

"It's a sad day in Cleveland, as far as I'm concerned," Black Shield president Lynn Hampton said Saturday in a phone interview with cleveland.com. "I don't think it's a good thing while we're in this paradigm shift of reform in our department."

Cleveland police have been working to rebuild trust with minority communities after the city agreed to sweeping reforms as part of a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to address claims of excessive force.

The CPPA's vote comes after black officers in other cities have publicly decried the decision of the Fraternal Order of Police, the largest national police union, to endorse Trump.

Trump's years-long questioning of whether President Barack Obama was born in the U.S. has been widely panned as motivated by race. Trump has also advocated for tougher policing at a time when police shootings in Cleveland and across the country have spurred protests and calls for reform.

Loomis and other union leaders took part in a roundtable discussion with Trump last month in Brook Park. He then appeared seated behind Trump at a rally in Akron. Loomis told cleveland.com later that day that friends, and not the Trump campaign, invited him to the rally.

Loomis was not immediately available for comment Saturday morning.

Loomis advocated for Trump at a Wednesday membership meeting where those in attendance voted 25-24 to hold an endorsement vote, Hampton told cleveland.com.

The Cleveland Division of Police does not endorse political candidates, so the union vote "is not an endorsement reflective of the division as a whole," a department spokesperson told cleveland.com earlier this week.

cleveland.com reporter Cory Shaffer contributed to this story.