The Cleveland Division of Police is facing continued scrutiny for its response to a chaotic weekend of “street takeovers” across the city.

Wednesday morning, Cleveland City Council’s Public Safety Committee held a special hearing to ask Cleveland Police Chief Annie Todd and other safety officials for clarity on key details of the police response.

“Our citizens are irate. What are we doing to deal with this lawlessness in order to make sure that we have a plan?” asked Council President Blaine Griffin. “Because I will tell you that I have multiple citizens, multiple businesses, multiple stakeholders saying ‘Blaine, we’re leaving.’”

The council president and other council members asked Todd what the police department knew ahead of the street takeovers.

Todd told them police received an email from Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon that revealed social media posts from groups coordinating the takeovers. She said the posts contained charged language including, ‘we will not run from a cop. If you can’t stand your ground, this isn’t your meetup.”

In response to that warning, Todd says police launched a helicopter to get eyes on the streets Saturday night, they notified all five police districts, and reached out to Ohio State Highway Patrol asking for help in monitoring roadways.

Annabelle Childers reports: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/loc... --

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