CLEVELAND — News 5 Investigators have learned the federal monitor overseeing Cleveland police reforms resigned Wednesday afternoon.
According to a federal court document, Karl Racine "submitted a resignation letter expressing his intent to no longer serve as Monitor of the Cleveland Consent Decree."
The document said "his fellow Hogan Lovells colleagues, including Deputy Monitor Stephanie Yonekura, would also transition off the case."
Tyler Sinclair, communications strategist, City of Cleveland, sent us the following statement about Racine's resignation:
"This was unexpected, as the first time we were informed of the resignation was in court a mere 2 hours ago. As such, we will have internal discussions in the coming days to discuss next steps."
According to his resignation letter, Racine's decision was prompted by issues he had with the city of Cleveland's law department.
"While I will not belabor the point, the simple truth is that the aggressive litigation posture taken by the City’s law department—including disputes over access to documents and databases, methodologies, and the Monitor’s fees—has caused substantial delays and injected a level of adversity that is inconsistent with the spirit of the Settlement Agreement," Racine wrote in the letter. "Of course, this Court has consistently rejected these erroneous legal arguments. Indeed, Your Honor’s willingness to schedule more frequent Status Conferences and to otherwise meet with the Parties, including the recently imposed monthly meetings, is exactly the type of oversight necessary to advance the Consent Decree."
Racine explained that the "distractions" with the law department didn't extend to the Cleveland Division of Police.
"Fortunately, these distractions have not extended to the Cleveland Department of Police, especially under the leadership of Chief Todd, who has remained focused on delivering progress. The more active Chief Todd is in overall leadership and management of the Consent Decree, the better for the people of Cleveland," he wrote.
Read his full letter below:
Casino incident
Racine's resignation comes after an incident outside the JACK Cleveland Casino on Jan. 7 at 2:34 a.m.
RELATED: Federal monitor overseeing police reforms involved in incident at JACK Cleveland Casino
An off-duty police officer, who was working secondary employment at the casino, requested a police car because Racine was "intoxicated" and "refusing to leave."
A police audio recording said Racine was already gone when officers arrived outside the building:
"A Mr. Karl Racine was here. He was pretty intoxicated. He was refusing to leave. He has now left the outside of the building."
In a statement to News 5 Investigators, Racine said that he was looking for a bite to eat, was denied entry, and returned to his hotel.
"I am confident that I comported myself respectfully and appropriately," he wrote.
Racine oversaw Cleveland Police reforms for two years.
The City of Cleveland and Racine have argued over his law firm's legal bills for months.
According to court records, Cleveland paid his law firm, Hogan Lovells, $1.2 million between April 2023 and June 2024.
Cleveland has been under a federal consent decree since May 2015, after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation found the Cleveland Division of Police engaged in a "pattern or practice" of excessive force.
