Residents and oversight advocates press council on Office of Professional Standards as patrolmen's contract is approved

Several residents and oversight advocates used the public-comment period at the March 24 Cleveland City Council meeting to criticize the Office of Professional Standards and to object to fast-tracking a collective bargaining agreement they said could reduce accountability. The council approved the collective bargaining agreement with the Cleveland Patrolmen's Association (Ordinance 389-2025) that evening by placing the ordinance on final passage.

Andre Simmons, introduced as a resident from Ward 1, said the Office of Professional Standards (OPS) was failing complainants. "In my opinion, they are not only rude and unprofessional, they give off the impression, in my opinion, that either they're related, nepotism, or they have deep relationships because they can do whatever they wanna do," Simmons said during public comment. He described an assault allegation involving a police officer at a…