Cleveland is hiring a former federal judge to ensure the city complies with its police reform agreement. For Ohio Public Radio, WCPN’s Nick Castele reports the $125,000-dollar-a-year position will coordinate city departments involved with the consent decree.
Cleveland’s consent decree with the Justice Department doesn’t call for this coordinator position. But Mayor Frank Jackson says it’s necessary because the agreement requires a massive amount of work.
“And it needs to be coordinated. And want to do it, and do it right. We don’t just want to check the box. We want to get a substantive outcome.”
Stepping into the job of consent decree implementation coordinator is Gregory White. He says he’ll make sure the city achieves the goals set by the monitoring team.
“It’s a lot of moving parts," says White, "and there are a lot of deadlines."
"And the goal here—and I know the mayor’s goal—is to meet those deadlines head on so that the city can move on beyond this.”
White served most recently as a federal judge. Before that, he spent five years as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
His office tackled numerous corruption cases, including the convictions of East Cleveland Mayor Emmanuel Onunwor and businessman Nate Gray.
The broader Cuyahoga County corruption investigation also took off under his watch, eventually snaring commissioner Jimmy Dimora, auditor Frank Russo and many others.
