The community commission overseeing the federal consent decree for the Cleveland Division of Police wants the monitor to reinstate a former deputy on the team.
Cleveland鈥檚 police monitor, Hassan Aden, forced the departure of Case Western Reserve University law professor Ayesha Bell Hardaway out of her position as one of two deputy monitors after threatening to remove or reassign her for commenting on systemic racism.
The this week saying he should reinstate Hardaway as deputy because of her expertise in constitutional policing and local connections to community groups.
鈥淧rofessor Hardaway is unrivaled in her local connections to community groups and subject matter expertise regarding constitutional policing,鈥� the letter said. 鈥淪he stood on her principles and many groups and individuals here in Cleveland have lifted her up for doing so. These principals embody the spirit of the Consent Decree and all that it hopes to achieve.鈥�
Following her April appearance on Ideastream鈥檚 鈥淪ound of Ideas鈥� radio program, where the topic was the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis and police reform nationwide, Hassan鈥檚 officials raised questions about Hardaway鈥檚 objectivity.
Hardaway says her responses on the show were within her role as a professor and director of the criminal clinic in the Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic at CWRU.
Cleveland branches of Black Lives Matter and the NAACP have also criticized Aden, asking that Bell Hardaway return and calling for Aden鈥檚 resignation.
