CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — During last week's press conference with Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren, he called out the police department, saying he has lost confidence in the agency's leadership.
Seren's 90-minute-long press availability primarily focused on the allegations that his wife, Natalie McDaniel, broke into a Coventry home Wednesday morning.
According to a police report, surveillance video shows McDaniel could be seen walking onto the home's front lawn, where she knelt down next to a sign calling for her husband's recall and snapped a photo of it.
Records go on to explain that McDaniel then looks at the house before standing up and walking onto the front porch.
"[McDaniel] is seen opening the door at approximately 10:26:27 and taking a step into the residence," the police report details.
Doorbell video provided to News 5 shows McDaniel stepping across the threshold of the front door and into the home. There is audio attached to the clip, and the sound of a knock is not heard.
The clip is only six seconds and cuts off once McDaniel steps foot into the home.
The police report states there is a 17-second gap between when McDaniel stepped into the home and when she is seen later leaving.
McDaniel was not arrested, but she was detained for at least two hours before being released at the scene, according to Seren.
DNA was collected at the scene, and McDaniel's phone was confiscated as evidence.
"I'm at a bit of a loss," Seren said on Thursday. "The idea that all of you are here to discuss a non-event like that is concerning."
Seren claims his wife did knock on the door while on her routine walk through the neighborhood, doing so in an effort to get contact information for the contractors working on the property.
"We don't even know if anybody lives at this house. We just recognize that it's a beautiful house," Seren said. "She walks up to the front door, knocks on the door, and the door begins to swing open because the door isn't latched. She calls out just to make sure people know that somebody's there. She doesn't want to startle anybody and she reaches and closes the door. She leaves the property, continues on her walk, and thinks nothing of it."
As Seren described his wife's version of events, he honed in on his loss of confidence in the Cleveland Heights Police Department based on a pattern of troubling events, which resulted in how his wife's incident was handled.
"I have lost pretty much any confidence in the leadership in our police division. The idea that there is still an investigation going on into a non-event and no articulation of any actual concern about a harm done or a crime committed. I'm still waiting for a reasonable explanation from anybody involved in this," Seren said on Thursday.
The Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, a labor union representing Cleveland Heights officers and supervisors, responded to Seren's remarks on Monday.
"There is no question the Officers had probable cause to detain McDaniel. The only troubling part of this incident is Mr. Seren’s failure to grasp the facts and the truth," the labor union stated.
In addition to Seren not being satisfied with the police department's handling of his wife's case, he alleges the agency is racially biased when promoting employees.
Seren explains a situation that has him "concerned."
He describes a promotion recommendation of a Lieutenant to Captain. He said that the individual up for promotion is on the Giglio list, which is a compilation of law enforcement officers whose credibility has been called into question due to sustained incidents of misconduct, such as dishonesty, criminal convictions, or other issues impacting their truthfulness
"Somebody that we have to disclose to defense attorneys if we're going to put them on the stand because of issues of integrity. [We're] putting that person forward for a promotion to an administrative captain position," Seren said.
He explained that another individual was refused a promotion because they were on the Giglio list, and yet the department is asking to promote someone in the same position.
He points to the individual's race who was refused a promotion. Seren said that the officer is Black, whereas the officer up for promotion is white, as a possible reason for the discrepancy.
"This is concerning for me and it leads me to question some of the biases that are making themselves apparent in the decision making of police leadership at this point," Seren said.
The Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association also responded to that claim on Monday.
To our knowledge, he never brought forth any investigation or concerns in his roughly four years in office. Mr. Seren's statement is an insult to every Officer and supervisor on the Department.
The labor union is calling for Seren's resignation, or the bare minimum, that he step down as Safety Director.
Read the labor union's full statement below.
At Monday night's City Council meeting, at least two dozen Cleveland Heights police officers filled the chambers, with a handful overflowing outside the room.
Police Chief Christopher Britton spoke at the meeting, but did not address the mayor's allegations.
"Standing here are some proud men and women, female, male, different races and religion that come to work every single day and serve the community with honor and dignity," Britton stated.
Those officers who showed up were met with a round of applause on their way out.
Shortly after the officers filed out of council chambers, the mayor also left in a rush.
We've reached out to the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association for an interview, but haven't heard back.
