Cleveland Police Survey Stalled Since 2018

The consent decree monitor has not completed the required community survey since 2018, and a council member is seeking $100,000 in next year's budget to fund one.

Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Law Enforcement

Cleveland Police Survey Stalled Since 2018

Live Poll

Do you think Cleveland's police department should be regularly surveyed on residents' views?

Cleveland's consent decree monitor has not conducted the community police survey required every two years since 2018, when the last survey was completed. The city has asked to postpone the survey, and Councilmember Stephanie Howse-Jones has asked to add $100,000 to next year's budget for it.

Why it matters

The survey is a required measure under the federal consent decree governing Cleveland police, and its absence leaves the city without current data on residents' views of officers. Delays tied to survey fatigue and pending city approval of a request for proposals push back the timeline for the decree's oversight work.

The consent decree required a community survey every two years beginning 180 days after the 2015 filing, but none has been conducted since 2018 because the pandemic interrupted work in 2020 and 2021. The monitor has sent a request for proposals that the city must approve, and the city has not said when the survey will proceed.

The players

Stephanie Howse-Jones

Cleveland city councilmember who asked to add $100,000 to next year's budget for a community survey.

Kent State University

Public university in Ohio whose researchers are conducting their own surveys of Cleveland residents.

The details

The city asked the monitor to postpone the survey due to survey fatigue and to agree on a start date. The Police Accountability Team has attended 45 community events and collected 355 completed surveys of its own, while Kent State University researchers are conducting separate surveys.

2015: Consent decree filed in court, with the survey requirement starting 180 days later.
2016: Monitor conducts the first community survey.
2018: Monitor conducts the second and last community survey.
2020-2021: Pandemic interrupts survey work.
2022-2023: The required community survey is not conducted.

Legal Context

Cleveland's police oversight is shaped by its federal consent decree, which requires periodic community surveys as one measure of monitoring police conduct. The stalled survey shows how the decree's timelines can slip when funding approval and survey logistics are not aligned.

Cleveland residents may not see updated survey data on police relations until the city approves a new survey contract and the monitor begins fieldwork. The $100,000 budget request, if approved, would determine whether the survey proceeds on a funded timeline.

The takeaway

Community surveys are one of the few measures residents can use to gauge police performance under a consent decree, so delays affect how the public tracks whether reforms are working. Watching the city's budget decision on the survey is the most direct way to follow progress.