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Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, right, will announce a new safety director and police chief Monday morning, to replace Police Chief Michael McGrath, left, and Safety Director Martin Flask.

(Peggy Turbett, The Plain Dealer)

Note: The press conference has concluded. Read the recap from reporter Cory Shaffer in the comments section below.





CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mayor Frank Jackson shuffled the city's top safety brass Monday, naming a new chief of police, deputy chief, safety director and district commander.

Northeast Ohio Media Group first reported Monday morning that Martin Flask would step aside from his position as the city’s safety director and Chief of Police Michael McGrath would be promoted to replace him.

Calvin Williams, currently the department’s deputy chief of field operations, was named the new chief of police. Fifth District Commander Dornat "Wayne" Drummond will step into Williams' old position.

"We have a lot of improvements in the works," Williams said. "A lot of things for our guys to make it better and safer for them, as well as a lot of things that are going to make that delivery of services to the community a lot better for us."

The announcement comes as the department faces probes by a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury into the November 2012 chase that left Timothy Russell and Melissa Williams dead.

The jury, which started issuing subpoenas in November, will decide if any criminal charges should be brought against the 13 officers who collectively fired 137 shots at Russell and Williams.

The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating the department to determine if police officers have routinely used excessive force.

Williams said he will respect the investigations and will fully cooperate with them.

"We will get through the process, but we will do it the right way," Williams said.

Jackson and McGrath were not shy about admitting the fact that the police department has seen better days at the swearing-in ceremony Monday at City Hall, as they praised the outgoing Flask.

"He has carried this department through some very trying times," Jackson said. "He’s done it professionally, and with great fairness and equality to everyone."

Flask began his career in the Cleveland Division of Police in 1973. He eventually worked his way up to chief, and retired in 2001.

After spending five years as head of security at Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, Flask returned to City Hall in 2006, when newly elected mayor Frank Jackson tapped him to be safety director.

Monday, Jackson said Flask would be reassigned to be his ninth full-time executive assistant, overseeing "special projects" to lighten the McGrath's load so he could focus on his tasks as safety director.

McGrath began his police career in East Cleveland in 1973. In 1980, he moved to Strongsville, before landing in Cleveland in 1981.

Williams, 49, has held his current position since 2011, when Jackson promoted him from Third District commander. Deputy chief of field operations oversees nearly 75 percent of the division’s officers.

The city said everyone but Flask will receive a raise. Flask will continue to collect his safety director's salary of $121,965.79 to help Jackson by overseeing "special projects," Jackson said Monday.



McGrath, Williams and Drummond will each make $10,000 more than their previous salaries. That will make McGrath, the new top safety official, the highest paid of the newly tapped brass at $122, 720.53. Williams and Drummond will be bumped to $119,436.94 and $110,562.71, respectively, the city said.



Capt. Dennis Hill, who was tapped to replace Drummond heading the Fifth District, will receive the biggest bump in pay, jumping from $86,691.98 to $100,562.71, the salary set for the position of commander in the city charter.

U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott got to know the new chief when Williams was on Elliott's Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force. Elliott had nothing but praise for Williams - and McGrath - after the ceremony.

"(Williams) is an outstanding choice, and it’s going to be a win-win for the city of Cleveland," Elliott said. "When you put two people together like that, it's going to be a win-win for the city of Cleveland as well as law enforcement."

Williams will be the city's third black police chief, and the first since 2002 after Mary Bounds stepped down. The move comes weeks after Ward 2 Councilman Zack Reed publicly decried the lack of diversity in the city's safety forces.

Reed said he is "overwhelmed" that the city's top two police jobs will be filled by two "highly-respected, qualified" black men.

"I think it's a great move," Reed said. "Now you're going to have Williams in that room making decisions, Drummond in that room and Mayor Jackson. That's three qualified African americans that have the community at heart and can look at decisions from the standpoint of being a person of color."

Michael Nelson, a private attorney who also co-chairs the Cleveland NAACP's criminal justice committee, said he's happy for Williams and holds him in high regard, but questions how big of a difference he can make if he's still working under McGrath and Flask.

"The problem is he still answers to the two people who have the closest connection to the catastrophes of the safety department," Nelson said, bringing up the chase, the Justice Department's use of force probe and scandals in the city's Division of Fire, including firefighters trading shifts and urinating on a photograph of former Chief Darryl McGinnis.

"Because Calvin is good police and because he has a significant amount of integrity, he would be best served if the mayor would really commit to reform and shuffle (McGrath and Flask) out of the safety department all together," Nelson said.

Reed said he hoped Williams and Drummond will be able to work with the police department to thaw icy relations between the division and the city's African-American community.

Jackson, in an interview with reporters in his office after Monday's swearing-in, said the promotions were not about race.

"Chief Williams is not chief because he's black," Jackson said. "Chief Williams is chief because he's the most qualified person for the job."

The mere fact that Williams is black isn't enough to convince Nelson things will change.

"If this was 1950s Mississippi, I would say 'this is great,'" Nelson said. "But this is 2014 Ohio, and we expect real, substantive reform."

The relationship between the Cleveland Police Patrolman's Association and top brass isn't any warmer, icing over when McGrath laid the blame for the November 2012 chase and fatal shooting at the feet of the officers involved. After a separate probe, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine determined that "the system itself failed these officers," an assertion Jackson and McGrath vehemently disagreed with.

The spat culminated with CPPA endorsing Jackson's failed challenger Ken Lanci, who promised to fire McGrath and Flask if he was elected in November's mayoral race.

Reached on his cell phone Monday, CPPA President Jeffrey Follmer declined to comment for this piece.

Brian Betley, president of the Fraternal Order of Police - the union that represents police supervisors - struck a conciliatory note after the announcement.

"I didn't always agree with Chief McGrath, but that's business," he said. "The best the FOP can hope for is that we will continue to have a decent relationship with the leadership."