Perhaps one of the reasons Mayor Frank Jackson is reluctant — which is putting it mildly — to get rid of his Special Assistant Marty Flask and Safety Director Michael McGrath has to do with the question of who would replace them.
Is there anyone in the police department pipeline that could step up and take control of this clearly out of control department? Or is morale so bad that no one (short of putting Steve Loomis in control of the department … control being something he probably figures he already has) from within the ranks can step up and lead the much-needed reform that has to take place?
Other cities, most notably Philadelphia and Los Angeles, when they needed new leadership of their safety forces, city fathers looked around the country and selected the best available men for the job … but don’t hold your breath expecting that to happen in Cleveland. Ours is a city (and county) that don’t cotton too well to “outsiders” and that’s a well-known fact across the country — which makes it hard to attract qualified individuals to come to NEO to take public sector jobs.
However, when, in 2008, Philadelphia felt the need to reform its police department they reached out to recently retired Washington, D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, a man with a wealth of experience in policing. He began his career as a cop in Chicago and rose to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. While there he was instrumental in designing and implementing the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy that became a nationally acclaimed model of community policing. Before retiring in D.C. (he served from 1998-2006) crime rates there declined by about 40 percent, and the district regained its reputation as a national leader in urban policing.
Ditto the success of William Bratton, who began his police career at the Boston Police Department before becoming Police Commissioner in New York City, where his policies were credited with reducing petty and violent crime. He moved to the Los Angeles Police Department in 2002 and began reforming that police after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Crime was reduced there as well under his leadership. Currently he’s back in New York, again serving as police commissioner.
Are there other cops out there, somewhere around the country, with the experience and integrity to lead Cleveland’s safety forces? Of course there are, but the chances of any of them getting the opportunity to lend their skills to assist our cops get on track are slim to none.
When Michael Vu came to Cuyahoga County to run the Board of Elections back in 2003, I warned him in regards to how provincial the locals were, and how difficult they could make his life. He lasted about four or five years and then left “on mutually agreed upon terms” — which simply means he was ran out of town on a rail. However, he landed in San Diego County, which is twice as big as Cuyahoga County and is doing just fine.
The same thing goes for former Cleveland Public Utilities Director Paul Bender, who lasted less than two years at the helm of Cleveland Public Power and the Water Department. Of course when officials leave they never badmouth the city or administration, but when someone leaves and relocates thousands of miles away to the African Republic of Botswana, that should tell you something.
[Photo: Erik Drost]
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.