![Cleveland police and out-of-town officers move through Public Square during the Republican National Convention. [Nick Castele / ideastream]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9760e78/2147483647/strip/true/crop/980x520+0+0/resize/840x446!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F1%2F26%2F2016rncpolice.jpg)
The city of Cleveland says it’s working toward complying with the police reform agreement signed with the Justice Department two years ago. The city filed its latest six-month status update in federal court on Wednesday.
Cleveland’s chief counsel says the city is focused on “substantially reducing” the backlog in complaint cases against officers.
In June, the team monitoring consent decree compliance questioned whether the city had the resources to craft a reduction plan.
The long-delayed hiring of an internal affairs director could happen later this year, the city says, with job interviews in “the very near future.”
Cleveland police are working to fill the ranks of officers, too. The city submitted a draft recruitment plan in June, and launched a video and radio hiring campaign.
The city signed a contract with Case Western Reserve University to collect and analyze data on such factors as use of force and police stops. Cleveland is still looking for a full-time data coordinator after one preferred candidate withdrew, according to the court filing.
