Watch: I-Team questions police reform group earning $750 per hour
CLEVELAND (WJW) – The FOX 8 I-Team went one-on-one with the head of a group which includes some members earning $750 an hour with your tax money.
We asked the question you keep asking as you struggle to pay the bills.
The group now expects to collect millions of dollars a year to oversee reform in the Cleveland Police Department. So, we went to the top.
Last week, we met Karl Racine, the head of the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team.
Racine and other members of the group went before the Cleveland City Council Public Safety Committee.
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As Racine walked into city hall, we asked, “specifically, about the $750 an hour fee? A lot of people can’t afford groceries. How do you justify that?”
“I’m not able to comment pursuant to the consent decree,” he responded.
“You’re here to talk to the public,” the I-Team said.
“I am here to talk to the public. I’m not allowed to talk to the press without the permission of the parties,” Racine said.
We’ve recently exposed questions about the group billing the city for flights, hotels and more. In one case, billing $2,400 for the cover letter to a report.
Your tax money pays for it.
So, we pressed for more about the $750 fee.
“It resonates with regular people. So, I’m just looking for an explanation on that,” the I-Team said.
“Like I just said, I’m not permitted to speak,” Racine said.
Cleveland police have been under federal watch for nearly a decade. As the monitoring team went before city council, a taxpayer who owns an inner-city car wash called out the monitors, the Cleveland police and city council.
“There’s a lot of things that everybody in this room are missing and dropping the ball on,” said Darrell Houston.
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Councilman Brian Kazy also pointed out the overall cost of police monitoring is soaring, but there’s no end in sight.
In fact, Kazy reminded the group that the fees this year could reach $2.4 million.
Back to the I-Team trying to get answers, remember that the group members say they need permission from everyone involved to speak to a reporter. We gave them a card and told them to go and get that permission. Then, give us a call.
Abby Wilhelm walked in with Racine, and the I-Team asked her, “so, will you commit to me to getting permission? Are you going to make that request so that you and I and Mr. Racine can sit down and talk about this?”
“Absolutely, we will make that request,” Wilhelm said.
We will check back.
Meanwhile, council members tried to find out what exactly the Cleveland Police must do to end the monitoring. But, we saw no clear, definitive answers to those questions.
The Monitoring Team has blamed the City for standing in the way of progress including withholding records.
City leaders have blamed the Monitoring Team for not doing enough to help the Cleveland Police understand what else is expected and when. Many officers and people in City Hall argue the federal monitors, also, don’t give Cleveland Police enough credit for making changes.
Concerning the cost, City of Cleveland Law Director Mark Griffin recently said,
“We are dissecting and looking at every single expenditure to make sure taxpayers are protected.”
Griffin and his staff are challenging many bills from the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team.
For example, one bill shows a member of the group flew into Cleveland from Washington, then flew out to wine country in Michigan.
Mark Griffin added,
“But, the bigger picture here is to try to prevent some of these costs to make sure there aren’t unnecessary people attending meetings and not talking. We want to make sure that it’s not overstaffed. We want to make sure that it’s not overspent.”
Ultimately, a federal judge gets the final word deciding what bills get paid by the City. The same judge also holds hearings about what’s being done to improve Cleveland Police policies and procedures. And, what’s being done to fix problems.
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