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Judge Approves New Police Policy Forbidding Racial Profiling
By: Associated Press
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CLEVELAND (AP) – Cleveland police officers must adhere to a new “bias-free” policing policy approved by a federal judge.
Cleveland.com reports the move announced Friday is the latest reform under a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice that the city agreed to in 2015. The agreement was designed to end what federal officials say was a pattern of unconstitutional policing.
The new policy demands that officers patrol without bias and treat people they encounter with respect. It says officers must make decisions based on reasonable suspicion and probable cause, and without discrimination.
The police department started drafting the policy in April 2016. It was revised multiple times, with feedback from a federal monitoring team and the Justice Department.
The union representing Cleveland police has long denied any racial profiling while patrolling.