Police Relations Panel to Hold Public Forum in Cleveland

The first meeting of a state task that will examine the relationship between police officers and the communities they serve is a public forum in Cleveland. The event on Tuesday will be at Cleveland State University. Gov. John Kasich formed the task force after a number of police-involved deaths. A report is scheduled to be issued in May after a series of forums around the state. Among the 18 appointees on the task force are former U.S. senator and former Ohio Gov. George Voinovich, former U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes, Department of Public Safety Director John Born, city council members, religious leaders and law enforcement officials. The U.S. Justice Department last month issued a report that concluded Cleveland police had engaged in a pattern and practice of using excessive force.