This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project - Cleveland, a nonprofit news team covering Ohio’s criminal justice systems. Sign up for their Cleveland newsletter and Facebook Group, and follow The Marshall Project on Instagram, Reddit and YouTube.
Henry Ray said he was surprised when flashing police lights lit up behind his Camaro as he was driving on Rockwell Avenue in downtown Cleveland in October 2023.
He repeatedly asked Cuyahoga County sheriff’s Deputy James DeCredico why he had been stopped, according to bodycam footage. DeCredico would not say. Ray persisted. DeCredico warned Ray he would pull him out of the car if he did not provide his license.
About two minutes into the stop, DeCredico told Ray his license was suspended. Deputies handcuffed Ray, put him in a cruiser and searched his car with a police dog. DeCredico told Ray he was being detained for erratic behavior.
Nearly 50 minutes later, Ray drove away with tickets for tinted windows and for not having his license plate illuminated. His license was not suspended.
“I definitely thought these (deputies) were fishing,” Ray told The Marshall Project - Cleveland and News 5 Cleveland. “You told me you stopped me for one thing. Then later you started coming with other things of what you stopped me for.”
Ray’s encounter with deputies from the sheriff’s controversial Downtown Safety Patrol is a common one, according to a Marshall Project - Cleveland and News 5 Cleveland review of annual reports touting more than 4,400 traffic stops since the unit launched in 2023.
According to department data, over two-thirds of the stops made by Downtown Safety Patrol deputies did not result in an arrest or citation in 2023 and 2024. The news outlets’ analysis found that Cleveland police officers who patrolled downtown during the same hours issued tickets in about 72% of stops in 2023, raising questions about the motive for the sheriff’s department’s traffic stops.
The news outlets also found that Black drivers received 75% of the citations issued. Of those, 60% involved low-level offenses such as having suspended licenses and violating window tint and seatbelt laws.
Those numbers were gathered from data kept by the Chagrin Valley Dispatch Center, as the sheriff’s department omits information for categories such as race and gender from its annual reports. Kelly Woodard, the county’s communications director, referred reporters to the Chagrin Valley Dispatch Center for additional information and confirmed the accuracy of the data, despite large discrepancies in information released by both agencies. For example, the dispatch records showed nearly 400 stops that were not reflected in the sheriff’s 2024 annual report.
‘Shocked’
The Downtown Safety Patrol was launched after a string of shootings in Cleveland’s entertainment districts compelled authorities to find ways to reduce crime.
More than a dozen drivers who spoke to The Marshall Project - Cleveland said they believed deputies on the downtown unit stopped them for being Black, having tinted windows and driving fancy cars. Most feared retaliation for talking.
The news outlets’ findings offered further insight into the downtown unit following one deputy being involved in two pursuits where three people died, including two bystanders, and another deputy shooting two teenagers after two chases.
Civil rights attorney Stanley Jackson, of the Cochran Firm Cleveland, said the unit’s scant ticket writing reeks of classic racial profiling.
“I was shocked by the numbers,” said Jackson, who represents the families of Tamya Westmoreland and Sharday Elder — bystanders who were killed during high-speed pursuits involving sheriff’s deputies from the Downtown Safety Patrol. “I knew that there was probably a vast representation of African Americans being pulled over, but I didn't know that it was that drastic. It looks like a fishing expedition.”
County Executive Chris Ronayne and Sheriff Harold Pretel have declined numerous interview requests to discuss the downtown unit. Neither responded to an interview request for this story.
During a Cuyahoga County Council meeting on Sept. 9, Ronayne defended the work of the downtown unit and asked Pretel to review the pursuit policy.
“This unit provides a valuable service in Cleveland and supports events and communities and law enforcement departments throughout Cuyahoga County,” Ronayne said. “We must ensure that our approach gives law enforcement the tools they need to address threats to our community, while also ensuring that bystanders remain safe.”
Woodard, the county’s communications director, said deputies use their training and discretion to educate the public instead of writing tickets. Stopping and citing a driver for violating the law is not a pretextual reason, she wrote in a statement.
“The Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department is committed to fair and impartial law enforcement,” she wrote. “There has been no credible evidence that any of the (Downtown Safety Patrol) deputies have discriminated against people based on their race, ethnicity, or background.”
In April’s state of the city speech, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb told residents he supports the downtown unit and “it’s the wrong move” to get rid of it. He declined to comment through a spokeswoman.
‘Black dude in a Camaro’
Pretextual stops, the practice of identifying minor infractions with the intent to look for more serious offenses like guns or drugs, have been criticized but have withstood constitutional challenges since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled them legal in 1996.
Stops for minor infractions across the country have led to numerous deadly encounters after escalating into violent and sometimes fatal struggles. Police shot Daunte Wright in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2021 during a struggle after stopping him for expired vehicle registration. Memphis officers violently beat Tyre Nichols in 2023 after stopping him for running a red light.
When Ray could not get an answer on why DeCredico and Deputy Isen Vajusi stopped him, he requested to speak to a supervisor, according to bodycam footage. He also questioned why he had to get out of his car.
“You see a Black dude in a Camaro,” Ray told deputies. “You all are two racist cops. You pulled me over for no reason.”
Deputies handcuffed Ray and put him in the back of a cruiser. Minutes later, a dispatcher confirmed via radio to deputies that Ray had a valid license. DeCredico then walked his police dog around Ray’s car and searched the inside. Bodycam footage showed DeCredico placing a pill container and another container with residue into an evidence bag. Ray accused the deputies of planting the pills and the container.
Nearly 46 minutes after being pulled over, Ray was taken from the back of the cruiser. He continued to object to the vehicle search.
Prosecutors dropped the traffic citations in January 2024, according to court records.
Both deputies declined to comment.
On Oct. 3, 2024, Ray sued Vajusi and DeCredico, accusing them of falsely detaining him and injuring his wrist while handcuffing him.
Weeks later, prosecutors filed two counts of drug possession charges against Ray for the residue in the jar. In July, prosecutors dropped those charges, but Ray ended up pleading guilty to the earlier traffic citations. He was fined $25, court records show.
Jeff Wenninger, a retired Los Angeles Police Department lieutenant and expert on police tactics, said after reviewing the bodycam footage of Ray’s encounter that the length of the stop troubled him.
“This was about a pretext stop looking for something greater than the actual violation,” Wenninger said. “I would challenge the legality of the search and what they claimed to be the actual alert that qualified and rose this to the level of probable cause.”
The Downtown Safety Patrol has been a source of controversy since Pretel and Cleveland leaders unveiled plans to target crime in the city’s entertainment districts. The unit hit the streets on Aug. 16, 2023.
In Cleveland, police officers must state why they stopped drivers, who they searched, names of individuals stopped, contraband they seized and the probable cause for searching any person during the encounter. Cuyahoga County deputies who patrol some of the same streets do not keep similar detailed records.
‘She should be here’
For decades, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department’s primary functions had been to operate the county’s jail and provide courtroom security.
As controversy has grown around the work of the downtown unit, calls for more accountability grow.
More than a dozen relatives and friends of Westmoreland and Elder held signs, saying “please don’t let the system fail Sharday,” outside the county building prior to the Cuyahoga County Council meeting on Sept. 9.
The group, which also included local Black Lives Matter leaders, called for the disbanding of the downtown unit and the firing of Deputy Kasey Loudermilk, who participated in the chases where their loved ones were killed. They also want an independent investigation into the deaths, retraining for deputies and better background checks for deputies.
“She should be here with her family and her kids,” said Cearria Elder, Sharday Elder’s sister. “We won't never have a good holiday, never have a good birthday. Her kids are suffering without her.”
During the meeting, several residents told council members that Loudermilk should not have been hired after he admitted to lying in the application process. County prosecutors are also questioning whether he will have credibility issues if called to testify in court.
In a surprising move, DeCredico addressed the council during the meeting. While off duty and not in uniform, he did not identify himself as a member of the downtown unit.
DeCredico, a former Cleveland police officer, pointed fingers at his old department.
“We’re in this situation because of Cleveland police due to the restrictive policies, quite frankly, that breeds more criminals, which, in turn, pours over from Cleveland into all the suburbs,” he said.
He warned council members that they would be subjected to the county's bullying policies if they withheld money to stop the unit’s operation. He declined further comment after the meeting.
Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Meredith Turner said county leaders must act after learning deputies are stopping so many Black drivers. She vowed to contact Ronayne and Pretel.
“We need to figure it out,” Turner said, wiping away tears while talking about Westmoreland and Elder. “We just can't have another incident.”
