I-Team: Why aren’t CLE police using drones, cameras?

CLEVELAND (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team on Tuesday pressed city leaders on a long delay in getting Cleveland police to use cameras and drones — the same equipment used by so many other departments.

We took questions to the safety director, asking him to explain the hold-up in getting police basic crime-fighting equipment.

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This week, the I-Team revealed Cleveland City Council members approved buying drones for police in 2022. But we’ve learned the city just ordered nine of them in February.

We also revealed the city installed cameras in Cleveland police cars last year. But police are only now slowly beginning to record video from dashcams.

At a news conference, city leaders spoke of using technology to fight crime.

So the I TEAM listened, then we asked, “Why has it taken two years to order drones? And why are Cleveland police just beginning to use dashcams that were installed last year?”

Interim Director of Public Safety Wayne Drummond said, “Want to make sure that we have the best technology, make sure that we have the best policies in place.

“We’re gonna slow-walk it, make sure that we’re doing the right thing relative to our residents, and what they want, and what they need.”

We followed up by pointing out drones and dashcams have already been used for years by many local police agencies, but the mayor and safety director both ignored our follow-up question.

The city cannot say yet when the drones will be delivered and put into use.

All dashcams should be in use by the end of next month.

The Cleveland police union has become frustrated with delays using the technology.

“They said they need to rush this now because the equipment’s getting old and will be out of date,” Andy Gasiewski, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association, told us. “They want to do it last second and rush everything through, so we can get trained. And how good is the training when they’re rushing everything?”

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As for the delay with the drones, a memo shows the city planned to buy drones back in 2022. But City Hall said former safety director Karrie Howard never developed policies for drones. That only came to light after he recently resigned.

“Drones were purchased through a grant for law enforcement. After the previous director resigned, it was discovered that he never drafted a formal plan and/or policies,” reads a city email. “Upon learning that, the Department of Public Safety has been reviewing documents, researching best practices, and having conversations about how to best deploy and implement a drone program.

“These are crucial steps in the process as we must carefully balance the legality of implementing this new technology, in compliance with the consent decree and Community Police Commission, while also ensuring that we are maximizing the full capability of these resources to improve safety for our residents.”

City Council Public Safety Committee Chairman Michael Polensek reacted with anger.

“I lobbied for this stuff for years,” he told us. “Fix it. Fix it for our men and women in blue. We pay taxes for services, and we’re not getting them. I want protection.”

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