Several call for Hardaway's immediate reinstatement; community groups protest on CIty Hall steps

Professor Ayesha Bell Hardaway appeared earlier this month as a panelist on ideastream's "The Sound of Ideas" program for an interview on police reform and accountability nationwide, where she shared her relief with the verdict of the Derek Chauvin trial. Not long afterwards, she was pressured to resign from her role as Deputy Monitor from the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team. 

Hardaway had served on the Monitoring Team since it was established in 2015 to hold police accountable to the U.S. Constitution. A legal scholar, litigator and former prosecutor, Hardaway uniquely combines knowledge of local police practices with scholarly expertise in matters including constitutional policing, racial profiling and use of force. 

Hardaway’s forced departure has led to a strong protest from many of the city’s social justice and civic organizations, including the NAACP Cleveland chapter, the Norman S. Minor Bar Association, the Greater Cleveland Urban League, Black Lives Matter, United Pastors in Mission, Citizens for a Safer Cleveland, 100 Black Men of Greater Cleveland, and the Eliza Bryant Center. They announced their dissatisfaction with Hardaway's ouster on the steps of City Hall at a noonday rally yesterday.

With public safety and police misconduct considered critical issues in this year's mayoral campaign, we emailed the eight candidates  seeking the mayor's chair  to invite their comments on Hardaway's exit from the monitoring team. All but two — Basheer Jones and Landry Simmons — responded.

"a monitor's value comes from their independence." — Ross DiBello

RELATED • Ouster of independent deputy monitor in Cleveland's consent decree case must be challenged

Attorney Ross DiBello was the first to weigh in with a statement:

“While I have not met nor spoken with Professor Hardaway nor Monitor Aden, the circumstances surrounding this forced resignation are troubling.  The consent decree needs teeth, and Professor Hardaway seems to provide the sharp enforcement for which such a decree was intended.  Professor Hardaway's credentials and experience are valuable to our community.  Our campaign is supporting not only the permanent placement of the Cleveland Community Police Commission into the city charter, but supporting the true purpose of such words, namely to greatly reduce uses of excessive force.  This means recognizing a monitor's value comes from their independence.  We are not where we need to be, and it is only individuals such as Professor Hardaway who will get us there.  We will continue to do our due diligence but this reads as yet another example that many actions in our country result in backwards consequences.  We have not achieved Constitutional policing.  We hope the monitoring team is staffed with experts on civil rights.”

State Senator Sandra Williams issued what may have been the most incisive statement on Hardaway’s resignation:

"Frankly, the forced resignation of Ayesha Bell Hardaway is unnecessary and a real disappointment to the accountability process.  She was speaking in her capacity as a law professor and scholar --- a professional, Black woman speaking on her expertise, knowledge, and experience. I wish I was shocked that she is being criticized and punished for speaking on a subject matter that she specializes in --- but I'm not. We see it every day. It's a microscope put on us to minimize discussion about the truth and our own experiences. "

"During the discussion, she in no way compromised her ability to perform her duty as Deputy Monitor on the independent monitoring team appointed to evaluate police reform. The purpose of the consent decree is to make fundamental changes to CPD's policies, practices and procedures to address the issues the Department of Justice found unconstitutional and in violation of federal law.  How can we make substantial and real change if we do not and cannot speak truthfully about our flaws and injustices? We have to have real conversations and Professor Hardaway was having that conversation. Furthermore, her forced resignation sets a dangerous precedent for the free exchange of ideas for those operating under the consent decree. It's unconscionable. The city should stand behind Professor Hardaway."

Justin Bibb, one of the first mayoral candidates to make public safety a campaign platform issue, called for Hardaway’s immediate reinstatement, saying the situation “raises more questions about the objectivity of the current Police Monitor than it does about Professor Hardaway. … "Devaluing Professor Hardaway's expertise and experience is a serious mistake … You can't have the right kind of policing in our neighborhoods without the right accountability." 

How can we make substantial and real change if we do not and cannot speak truthfully about our flaws and injustices? We have to have real conversations and Professor Hardaway was having that conversation. The city should stand behind Professor Hardaway." — Sandra Williams

Bibb’s statement continued, "In a majority Black city that has paid out nearly $30 million in police misconduct claims over the last decade, we can't afford to lose Professor Hardaway's leadership and expertise. We need her voice to make our city safer and more just."  

Former councilman Zack Reed’s statement said that he stood in support of Hardaway “and by extension the people of Cleveland who demand accountability from our police department”. Calling her “a tireless advocate for reform”, he said “her dismissal … has the effect of suppressing the very thing this commission was assembled to provide, transparency, accountability and tangible reform.” 

“I will not stand silent, while the people of this city, who have for years pleaded for constitutional policing, have their voices swept under the rug. I call on the consent decree monitoring team to reassess their treatment of Ms. Hardaway.”

Reed said during his time on council he had been “impressed with her knowledge of constitutional policing as well as her vigorous commitment to the community.”

“We talk all the time about the need to earn the trust of the residents who live in Cleveland.  Ms. Hardaway’s forced departure sadly shows that there are those who are still not serious about bridging this gap.”

Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich joined the chorus calling for Hardaway’s reinstatement, saying in a phone call that the “attempt to run people out of town is not conducive to peace or tranquility.”

"Devaluing Professor Hardaway's expertise and experience is a serious mistake … You can't have the right kind of policing in our neighborhoods without the right accountability." — Justin Bibb

“We need to pride ourselves on diversity of opinion” in this community, whether we agree with someone or not. We need her unique insight. He said that as mayor he would invite her to rejoin the team.

[Note: the mayor does not have the power of appointment of the deputy monitor. US District Court Judge Solomon Oliver, who is presiding over enforcement of the consent decree, appointed the original monitor in the case to oversee compliance with the decree. That person recruited and hired Hardaway as deputy monitor. When the original monitor resigned, the current monitor, Hassan Aden, was appointed.]

Council President Kevin Kelley issued this short statement: "By all accounts, Ayesha  Bell Hardaway did a magnificent job as Deputy Monitor for the police reform efforts. Her knowledge and insights are invaluable, and it is Cleveland's loss that she felt compelled to step down."

Community group leaders have vowed to press forward towards Hardaway's reinstatement. They have not yet announced their next move.

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