Henry Ray mentioned he was shocked when flashing police lights lit up behind his Camaro as he was driving on Rockwell Avenue in downtown Cleveland in October 2023.
He repeatedly requested Cuyahoga County sheriff’s Deputy James DeCredico why he had been stopped, in response to bodycam footage. DeCredico wouldn’t say. Ray persevered. DeCredico warned Ray he would pull him out of the automotive if he didn’t present his license.
About two minutes into the cease, DeCredico instructed Ray his license was suspended. Deputies handcuffed Ray, put him in a cruiser and searched his automotive with a police canine. DeCredico instructed Ray he was being detained for erratic conduct.
Almost 50 minutes later, Ray drove away with tickets for tinted home windows and for not having his license plate illuminated. His license was not suspended.
“I undoubtedly thought these (deputies) had been fishing,” Ray instructed The Marshall Mission – Cleveland and Information 5 Cleveland. “You instructed me you stopped me for one factor. Then later you began coming with different issues of what you stopped me for.”
Ray’s encounter with deputies from the sheriff’s controversial Downtown Security Patrol is a standard one, in response to a Marshall Mission – Cleveland and Information 5 Cleveland evaluate of annual experiences touting greater than 4,400 site visitors stops because the unit launched in 2023.
In response to division knowledge, over two-thirds of the stops made by Downtown Security Patrol deputies didn’t lead to an arrest or quotation in 2023 and 2024. The information retailers’ evaluation discovered that Cleveland cops who patrolled downtown throughout the identical hours issued tickets in about 72% of stops in 2023, elevating questions in regards to the motive for the sheriff’s division’s site visitors stops.
The information retailers additionally discovered that Black drivers acquired 75% of the citations issued. Of these, 60% concerned low-level offenses reminiscent of having suspended licenses and violating window tint and seatbelt legal guidelines.
A evaluate of Downtown Security Patrol site visitors stops exhibits deputies not often situation tickets or make arrests. A Information 5 Cleveland/Marshall Mission – Cleveland investigation.
These numbers had been gathered from knowledge stored by the Chagrin Valley Dispatch Heart, because the sheriff’s division omits data for classes reminiscent of race and gender from its annual experiences. Kelly Woodard, the county’s communications director, referred reporters to the Chagrin Valley Dispatch Heart for added data and confirmed the accuracy of the info, regardless of massive discrepancies in data launched by each businesses. For instance, the dispatch data confirmed almost 400 stops that weren’t mirrored within the sheriff’s 2024 annual report.
‘Shocked’
The Downtown Security Patrol was launched after a string of shootings in Cleveland’s leisure districts compelled authorities to search out methods to cut back crime.
Greater than a dozen drivers who spoke to The Marshall Mission – Cleveland mentioned they believed deputies on the downtown unit stopped them for being Black, having tinted home windows and driving fancy automobiles. Most feared retaliation for speaking.
The information retailers’ findings provided additional perception into the downtown unit following one deputy being concerned in two pursuits the place three individuals died, together with two bystanders, and one other deputy taking pictures two youngsters after two chases.
Civil rights legal professional Stanley Jackson, of the Cochran Agency Cleveland, mentioned the unit’s scant ticket writing reeks of traditional racial profiling.
“I used to be shocked by the numbers,” mentioned Jackson, who represents the households of Tamya Westmoreland and Sharday Elder — bystanders who had been killed throughout high-speed pursuits involving sheriff’s deputies from the Downtown Security Patrol. “I knew that there was in all probability an enormous illustration of African Individuals being pulled over, however I did not know that it was that drastic. It seems like a fishing expedition.”
County Government Chris Ronayne and Sheriff Harold Pretel have declined quite a few interview requests to debate the downtown unit. Neither responded to an interview request for this story.
Throughout a Cuyahoga County Council assembly on Sept. 9, Ronayne defended the work of the downtown unit and requested Pretel to evaluate the pursuit coverage.
“This unit supplies a useful service in Cleveland and helps occasions and communities and regulation enforcement departments all through Cuyahoga County,” Ronayne mentioned. “We should make sure that our method provides regulation enforcement the instruments they should deal with threats to our neighborhood, whereas additionally making certain that bystanders stay secure.”
Woodard, the county’s communications director, mentioned deputies use their coaching and discretion to teach the general public as an alternative of writing tickets. Stopping and citing a driver for violating the regulation just isn’t a pretextual motive, she wrote in an announcement.
“The Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Division is dedicated to truthful and neutral regulation enforcement,” she wrote. “There was no credible proof that any of the (Downtown Security Patrol) deputies have discriminated in opposition to individuals primarily based on their race, ethnicity, or background.”
In April’s state of town speech, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb instructed residents he helps the downtown unit and “it’s the improper transfer” to do away with it. He declined to remark by means of a spokeswoman.
‘Black dude in a Camaro’
Pretextual stops, the observe of figuring out minor infractions with the intent to search for extra critical offenses like weapons or medication, have been criticized however have withstood constitutional challenges because the U.S. Supreme Courtroom dominated them authorized in 1996.
Stops for minor infractions throughout the nation have led to quite a few lethal encounters after escalating into violent and generally deadly struggles. Police shot Daunte Wright in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2021 throughout a wrestle after stopping him for expired automobile registration. Memphis officers violently beat Tyre Nichols in 2023 after stopping him for working a crimson gentle.
Cuyahoga County sheriff’s Deputy James DeCredico speaks at a Cuyahoga County Council assembly. He didn’t establish himself as a member of the downtown unit through the assembly.
When Ray couldn’t get a solution on why DeCredico and Deputy Isen Vajusi stopped him, he requested to talk to a supervisor, in response to bodycam footage. He additionally questioned why he needed to get out of his automotive.
“You see a Black dude in a Camaro,” Ray instructed deputies. “You all are two racist cops. You pulled me over for no motive.”
Deputies handcuffed Ray and put him at the back of a cruiser. Minutes later, a dispatcher confirmed through radio to deputies that Ray had a legitimate license. DeCredico then walked his police canine round Ray’s automotive and searched the within. Bodycam footage confirmed DeCredico putting a capsule container and one other container with residue into an proof bag. Ray accused the deputies of planting the drugs and the container.
Almost 46 minutes after being pulled over, Ray was taken from the again of the cruiser. He continued to object to the automobile search.
Prosecutors dropped the site visitors citations in January 2024, in response to courtroom data.
Each deputies declined to remark.
On Oct. 3, 2024, Ray sued Vajusi and DeCredico, accusing them of falsely detaining him and injuring his wrist whereas handcuffing him.
Weeks later, prosecutors filed two counts of drug possession costs in opposition to Ray for the residue within the jar. In July, prosecutors dropped these costs, however Ray ended up pleading responsible to the sooner site visitors citations. He was fined $25, courtroom data present.
Jeff Wenninger, a retired Los Angeles Police Division lieutenant and professional on police techniques, mentioned after reviewing the bodycam footage of Ray’s encounter that the size of the cease troubled him.
“This was a couple of pretext cease on the lookout for one thing better than the precise violation,” Wenninger mentioned. “I might problem the legality of the search and what they claimed to be the precise alert that certified and rose this to the extent of possible trigger.”
The Downtown Security Patrol has been a supply of controversy since Pretel and Cleveland leaders unveiled plans to focus on crime within the metropolis’s leisure districts. The unit hit the streets on Aug. 16, 2023.
In Cleveland, cops should state why they stopped drivers, who they searched, names of people stopped, contraband they seized and the possible trigger for looking any particular person through the encounter. Cuyahoga County deputies who patrol a few of the similar streets don’t maintain comparable detailed data.
‘She ought to be right here’
For many years, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Division’s main features had been to function the county’s jail and supply courtroom safety.
As controversy has grown across the work of the downtown unit, requires extra accountability develop.
Greater than a dozen family members and pals of Westmoreland and Elder held indicators, saying “please don’t let the system fail Sharday,” exterior the county constructing previous to the Cuyahoga County Council assembly on Sept. 9.
The group, which additionally included native Black Lives Matter leaders, referred to as for the disbanding of the downtown unit and the firing of Deputy Kasey Loudermilk, who participated within the chases the place their family members had been killed. Additionally they need an impartial investigation into the deaths, retraining for deputies and higher background checks for deputies.
“She ought to be right here along with her household and her youngsters,” mentioned Cearria Elder, Sharday Elder’s sister. “We cannot by no means have vacation, by no means have birthday. Her youngsters are struggling with out her.”
Through the assembly, a number of residents instructed council members that Loudermilk mustn’t have been employed after he admitted to mendacity within the software course of. County prosecutors are additionally questioning whether or not he can have credibility points if referred to as to testify in courtroom.
In a stunning transfer, DeCredico addressed the council through the assembly. Whereas off responsibility and never in uniform, he didn’t establish himself as a member of the downtown unit.
DeCredico, a former Cleveland police officer, pointed fingers at his previous division.
“We’re on this state of affairs due to Cleveland police because of the restrictive insurance policies, fairly frankly, that breeds extra criminals, which, in flip, pours over from Cleveland into all of the suburbs,” he mentioned.
He warned council members that they might be subjected to the county’s bullying insurance policies in the event that they withheld cash to cease the unit’s operation. He declined additional remark after the assembly.
Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Meredith Turner mentioned county leaders should act after studying deputies are stopping so many Black drivers. She vowed to contact Ronayne and Pretel.
“We have to determine it out,” Turner mentioned, wiping away tears whereas speaking about Westmoreland and Elder. “We simply cannot have one other incident.”
