Cleveland’s preparations for Brelo verdict include motorcycle clubs, sports coaches

Cleveland.com – by Cory Shaffer

CLEVELAND, Ohio — With riots in Baltimore fresh in mind and the outcomes of three high-profile police killings ahead for Cleveland, city officials are reaching out to a group of community leaders in an attempt to keep any protests peaceful.

Police and city leaders have assembled neighborhood outreach teams that include religious leaders, youth league coaches, business leaders, motorcycle club members and former gang members to build relationships and “keep their ears to the ground” for any rumors of planned unrest.  

“We’re trying to get out in front of anything that may happen,” Cleveland police Fourth District Commander Deon McCaulley told his community group at its daily briefing Monday at Zelma George Recreation Center. “We want to make sure that we have those relationships in place.”

McCaulley’s neighborhood group includes pastors, police officers and representatives from Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, the city’s recreation department, Ward 5 councilwoman Phyllis Cleveland, and representatives from anti-violence groups.

The group has met daily since Wednesday and plans to do so until Judge John P. O’Donnell announces his decision in the trial of Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo, charged with manslaughter in the November 2012 killing of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams.

Protesters have demonstrated off-and-on throughout the trial, and since November when a Cleveland police officer shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice and when 37-year-old Tanisha Anderson, who suffered from a mental illness, died in police custody.

Police officers have blocked traffic ahead of the marches, a practice Chief Calvin Williams promised last week would continue.

Treena Crayton, a member of the Executioners Motorcycle Club, attended Monday’s meeting. She said the group’s 42 members want to help protect their neighborhoods from unrest.

“They always look at us like the bad side, saying we’re gangs,” she said. “I want them to see our positive side, as well.”

Khalid Samad, of Peace in the Hood, watched televised footage of how peaceful protests in Baltimore in response to the death of Freddie Gray devolved into rioting, looting, property damage and arrests. Samad said he plans to form a rapid response team full of violence interrupters and former gang members to help diffuse a growing situation before it escalates.

“If you have large crowds around, if you have peacekeepers, peace makers and those that are there to help to mediate a situation that may emerge or to just stabilize an environment, then you usually don’t run into these kinds of problems,” Samad said.

While plans for peaceful protests and a response to potential violence continue to take shape, leaders remain doubtful that an acquittal in the Brelo case will lead to the level of violence and destruction seen in Baltimore and Ferguson.

“I don’t get the sense that this city is the type of city that’s going to rise up and cause havoc,” Edwin Parris, a member of the city’s Community Relations Board, said, stressing that he was not expressing the views of the board. “If they were, they would have done it at the time of the (November 2012) shooting. They’re going to be angry, but I don’t think they’re going to be destructive.”

Still, Parris said he was concerned about the prospect of “outside agitators” using the protests as a cover to cause unrest, as rumors of protesters visiting from Baltimore and Ferguson continue to swirl.

Attendees at Monday’s meeting discussed plans to open neighborhood churches to act as “safe houses” about an hour after the decision is announced in the Brelo trial.

Reggie Rucker, former Cleveland Browns receiver and leader of the anti-violence group Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance, attended Monday’s meeting. He said the frustration felt in the city’s black community is a symptom of a broader stress caused by living in under-served, inner-city neighborhoods, and a years-long void of police officers and members of those communities trying to understand each other.

“We have white police officers, and black men, and they are at war with each other,” he said.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/05/clevelands_riot_prevention_pla.html