Report: Cleveland reaches settlement with Justice Department over policing

The city of Cleveland will announce as early as Tuesday that it has reached a settlement with the Justice Department over what the feds called a pattern of unconstitutional policing and excessive use of force, sources told The New York Times on Monday.

The details of the settlement were not disclosed, but in previous cases, the Justice Department told cities they needed to allow independent monitors to oversee the changes made inside their police departments, revise their use-of-force policies, and improve their training, the Times reports. In December, the Justice Department released a report on the Cleveland Division of Police, with investigators saying officers unnecessarily used deadly force, used excessive force against mentally ill people, inappropriately used stun guns and chemical sprays, and in one case officers kicked a black man in the head while he was handcuffed and on the ground, but did not mention using force in their report.

Over the weekend, hundreds of people protested in Cleveland after a judge on Saturday found a white police officer, Michael Brelo, not guilty of manslaughter after a 2012 incident where he climbed on the hood of a vehicle and fired several times at an unarmed black couple, Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell, sitting in their car.

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