CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cuyahoga County Board of Control on Monday temporarily withheld approval for the Sheriff’s Department to pay $41,000 for tear gas, pepper balls and other riot gear to allow County Council to hold a hearing on the department’s use-of-force policy.
Dale Miller, one of three council representatives on the board, said he wanted to learn the circumstances under which the policy authorizes the use of force and how the county ensures compliance with the policy. Miller did not elaborate on his interest.
Miller did not ask anyone participating in Monday’s meeting, held via the Zoom online chat service, to immediately answer his questions. The board delayed votes on payments to two vendors – one for $24,466 and the other for $16,595 — until county officials address the questions during a future committee hearing.
But the delay is largely procedural, since the department already ordered the gear under a provision of the Cuyahoga Code County that allows executive agencies to make time-sensitive, “mission critical” purchases of up to $25,000 without prior authorization from the board.
The Sheriff’s Department had sought a total of $85,000 worth of gear in response to a May 30 riot that erupted in front of the downtown Justice Center following peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Some rioters entered the Justice Center, with an aim of starting a fire and freeing prisoners at the attached county jail, city police have said. Sheriff David Schilling previously said the county was “unprepared” for the scale of the May 30 incident.
The board delayed a vote on $24,466 worth of what a Sheriff’s Department employee described as “less than lethal” munitions, including pepper balls and tear gas. The board also delayed a vote on $16,595 worth of launchers for less-than-lethal munitions, along with riot shields and equipment holsters for deputies and jail guards.
The board did approve spending:
•$24,999 for headsets and accessories that allow deputies to communicate with one another in situations where they can’t use normal radios.
•$6,460 for a drone that the SWAT team can use to monitor and react to problems during large gatherings.
•$6,422 for goggles, bags to carry munitions, and personal hydration devices.
• $6,000 for riot helmets for jail guards.
The Sheriff’s Department cited “ongoing unrest” in its request to the Board of Control, saying that without the gear, “deputies may not be able to adequately defend county buildings if another event happens in the near future.”
Though the gear has already been ordered, much of it has not yet arrived, according to Tim O’Connor, SWAT commander for the Sheriff’s Department.
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Cuyahoga County Board of Control delays votes on riot gear to allow for hearing on Sheriff’s Department’s use - cleveland.com
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