CLEVELAND — A charter amendment will be placed on the November ballot following a Cleveland City Council vote earlier this week.
City Council’s vote was spurred by a signature initiative that was delivered to the city earlier this summer.
Voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on a potential Community Police Commission, which would give a community board appointed by the mayor and City Council oversight of the police department.
The proposed amendment says two members should be attorneys that have experience prosecuting police misconduct, and one member should be between the age of 18-30. The commission would prohibit any current or former members of Cleveland Police from joining.
Members of the commission would be paid, according to the amendment. Their pay would be set by City Council. Also the commission would have a budget equaling at least 1% of the police’s budget.
The proposal was pushed by Citizens for a Safer Cleveland, which has been urging police reforms.
“We are now so much closer to getting real justice for my son Angelo and all the families affected by police violence in Cleveland,” said Alicia Kirkman, the mother of Angelo Miller, who was shot and killed by a Cleveland police officer in 2007. “I call on my fellow community members to vote in support of this charter amendment, so our families can finally lead the way in the police accountability process.”
According to Cleveland.com, Miller’s family received a settlement from the city after his death.
