As reported on WCPN 90.3 ideastream, Cleveland’s NPR Station, on Monday, July 19, Case Western Reserve University Associate Professor of Law Ayesha Bell Hardaway rejoined the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team as deputy monitor five weeks after her forced resignation and 11 days after the police monitor, Hassan Aden, requested her return in response to public backlash.
In explaining her decision to rejoin the team, Professor Hardaway issued a public statement on July 19, which appears below:
“There is a strong commitment among many who live and work in Cleveland to do what we can to make our city vibrant and safe. Indeed, Clevelanders routinely make real personal and professional sacrifices to better our communities. Many community leaders, organizations, institutions and individuals have stood in the gap over the last five weeks to make it clear that our community deserves a Consent Decree process that they can trust and that is accessible to them. Please know that our community is better and stronger because of your efforts. My decision in 2015 to serve on the Independent Monitoring Team was driven by that same commitment. At times throughout the process, the work has been frustrating and, as many now know, even hostile. Yet, through it all, the opportunity to make meaningful recommendations and assessments that could improve the provision of police services compelled me to use my education, skills and voice to do my part. Now that I have been presented with the same opportunity - without undue constraints and limitations—I have decided that it is in our community’s best interest for me to resume my work as deputy monitor on the Independent Monitoring Team. My undaunted commitment to assessing the implementation of constitutional policing in the City of Cleveland remains as focused as when I initially began the work.”