NewsLocal NewsCleveland Metro

Actions

Cleveland Community Police Commission executive director placed on leave

Posted at 1:51 PM, Apr 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-09 19:00:23-04

The executive director of the Cleveland Community Police Commission has been placed on paid administrative leave while the city investigates complaints about "workplace issues and conflicts." 

Staff with the Cleveland CPC raised concerns to commissioners about the nature of the workplace environment and Executive Director Jason Goodrick's performance, according to a letter sent to Goodrick  by Sharon Dumas, the City of Cleveland's Director of Finance. The letter also said Goodrick has "expressed discomfort and dissatisfaction with the current work environment."

The commission reached out to the City of Cleveland's Human Resource Department for assistance with the complaints against Goodrick. Goodrick was placed on four weeks of paid administrative leave, which may be extended should the investigation take longer.

In the letter, Goodrick is informed that the investigator will focus on the concerns expressed to the City of Cleveland regarding his performance, as well as other staff members.

During his leave, Goodrick is not allowed to go the Cleveland Police Commission offices, have any contact with the commission staff or commission members, or represent the commission staff in public or at any meeting.

The 13-member Cleveland Community Police Commission was created as part of the consent decree the City of Cleveland signed with the U.S. Department of Justice after a USDOJ investigation found the Cleveland Division of Police engaged in a pattern and practice of excessive force.  

5 On Your Side Investigators reached out to Matthew Barge, the head monitor of the team overseeing Cleveland's consent decree, about Goodrick's leave. 

 

Barge sent us the following statement:

 

"The Monitoring Team is following the issues relating to CPC staffing, which it learned about last week.  Because the Commission is a City entity, and the CPC staff are City employees, the City is appropriately investigating these issues by hiring a private firm to investigate for the City and the Commission.

 

Under the Consent Decree, the CPC must continually work to be the conduit between Cleveland’s diverse communities and the Consent Decree’s focus on determining how policing happens in Cleveland in the future.  As the process moves into a critical time period that will focus on areas like community policing and search and seizure, the City and Division of Police need the community’s involvement now more than ever.  The Parties and Monitoring Team will continue to work not only with the Commission but with organizations across Cleveland to ensure that the community’s voices are heard and reflected in the Consent Decree process."