By Mansfield Frazier
The news that Cmdr. Calvin Williams — who, without a doubt, is the most able officer on the entire police force — will become Cleveland’s next Chief of Police is certainly welcomed in many quarters; but just as certainly, not in all.
Some — a very few — rank and file officers would only be satisfied if Mayor Jackson had made police union president Jeff Follmer or former president Steve Loomis (or, at the very least someone with an Irish surname for Christ’s sake!) the chief. That way, the bad cops could continue to do as they damn well please. Hey, after all, this is still Cleveland.
The best thing Chief Williams will have going for him (besides his years of experience and stellar reputation for integrity) is the fact the department is currently under the red-hot glare of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. History shows the feds always win; they certainly know how to go in and clean up problem police departments … albeit keeping them cleaned up long-term after they’ve left can still prove somewhat problematical. Old bad habits die very hard, and often don’t die at all; they simply go underground and morph over to better concealed and often more diabolical negative behaviors.
Indeed, skeptics are saying the changes in command at the CPD are merely part of a strategy to get out from the demands the feds are sure to make (or have already made), and, while there may be some validity to that view, the changes are nonetheless welcomed. The forgoing should not be construed as negative commentary on the leadership of Mike McGrath; for a long time now he’s been between a rock and a very hard place, and I don’t think any chief could have prevented many of the rampant excesses we’ve witnessed over the last few years by a few out-of-control rogue cops.
But even with federal oversight the newly minted chief is walking into a very tough situation. It’s somewhat understandable that Mayor Jackson would keep McGrath on as safety director (Martin Flask was promoted to a newly-created job as an executive assistant to the mayor and McGrath takes over his position) since removing two top men at the same time would run the risk of losing institutional memory, a critical component of any organization, and particularly a para-military one.
But, as one retired senior officer pointed out, “Williams worked for McGrath before the change and still does, and McGrath worked for Flask and still does … so what’s changed?”
His point was, how much real change can Williams institute without McGrath bristling, perhaps seeing any altering of policies as a negative commentary on how he previously ran the department. For instance, Chief Williams is known to be hands-on, and it’s hard to imagine him attempting to run the department from behind a desk at the Justice Center or City Hall, which was something McGrath was constantly criticized for doing by the rank and file.
Knowing Calvin Williams as I do (I’m proud to say that he’s a resident of Hough and lives a few blocks away), I’m positive that he’s not about to be satisfied with simply being window-dressing … just a handsome black face that’s part of a dog and pony show. He means business.
Another former Cleveland officer who has since moved on to a job in Washington, DC would not speak for attribution, but said, “I’ve known him for over a quarter-century, and if anyone thinks he’s not going to be his own man, they really don’t know Calvin Williams. He smiles a lot, but he’s tough as nails. A chief can make a lot of changes on his own, without going to the safety director, and I expect that’s exactly what he’ll do if he has to, and nobody’s going to mess around with him.”
Williams’ first order of business has to be to gain the trust and confidence of as many officers as possible, and he started working on that with his first utterances: “We have a lot of improvements in the works. 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.”
Some folks in the community interpreted that statement as putting the officers first and citizens second, but they’re dead wrong. Williams has to let his officers know without a doubt that he has their backs, while citizens already know he’s got theirs from all of the work he’s done in the community over the years.
Calvin Williams is a highly talented, experienced and dedicated professional peace officer (you’ll notice I just wrote “peace” officer, not “police” officer, and there is a difference you should know … the latter gets promotions based on how many arrests they make, while the former climbs in the ranks based on how well the peace is being kept) and if he’s given a real opportunity to run the department free of political interference — and I know that’s asking quite a bit — as chief he’ll do an excellent job. Cleveland is very fortunate to have someone of Chief Williams’ stature at the helm at this critical juncture in Cleveland’s history, and we all need to get behind him with our unstinting support.
Addendum: The owner of a company that does business with City Hall on a fairly regular basis quipped: “Calvin Williams always returns phone calls in a timely manner; perhaps Mayor Jackson can have him arrest some of those lazy bums at City Hall who never return calls or answer emails. Now that would be a real leap forward for Cleveland!”
Those were his words, not mine — but I certainly didn’t hesitate to include them.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.