Posted July 7, 201510:21 am
CLEVELAND -- Local officials announced who will serve on a selection panel that will pick members of a community police commission that is a key provision in Cleveland police department reforms.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and U.S. Attorney Steven Dettlebach announced the panel appointments Tuesday during a brief morning press conference.
"This is the first step in our reform effort," Mayor Jackson said before introducing the panel.
The selection panel includes:
Gabriella Celeste -- Director of child policy at Case Western Reserve's Schubert Center for Child Studies.
Eugenia Cash -- LSW, MSSA, CDCA, Chair of the Alcohol Drug And Mental Health Services Board in Cuyahoga County.
Reverend Dr. Jawanza Karriem Colvin -- Pastor of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church.
Colleen Cotter -- Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.
Reverend Jimmy Gates -- Pastor of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church.
Anita Gray -- Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League.
Phyllis Harris -- Executive Director of the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland.
Dr. Alex Johnson -- President of Cuyahoga Community College
Ronn Richard -- President and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation.
Victor Ruiz -- Executive Director of Esperanza Inc.
Timothy Tramble -- Executive Director of Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc.
"It's just absolutely an incredibly accomplished panel," Dettelbach said of the group.
A federal judge last month approved an agreement made between the city and Justice Department on how to reform the department after a DOJ investigation concluded Cleveland officers had shown a pattern of using excessive force and violating people's rights.
The agreement requires the selection panel to have members from faith-based organizations, civil rights groups, minority communities, advocacy groups, youth organizations and the business community.
The 13-member police commission will make recommendations on how officers can work more closely with community.