Press Release To All Media: Contact Imperial Women Activists Group, Kathy Wray Coleman, 216-659-0473
Community activists women are applauding the appointment on Monday by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson of Capt. Joellen O' Neil (pictured), a White woman, as a deputy police chief, the first female executive police officer in Cleveland since 2001 when Mary Bounds, who is Black, was appointed chief of police.
Last month the mayor demoted safety director Martin Flask, gave chief of police Michael McGrath Flask's job, and elevated Calvin Williams, who is Black, from deputy police chief to police chief. Before that Jackson had no Blacks as law director, safety director, chief of police, chief city prosecutor or EMS commissioner in the predominantly Black major American city.
"We are pleased that the mayor, after realizing just this year to elevate a Black to police chief, has now appointed a woman as deputy police chief given police mishaps by his previous non-Black law enforcement leadership team that we believe is partly responsible for negligence around the murders of 11 Black women on Imperial Avenue by serial killer Anthony Sowell and the rape and decade long kidnapping of the Ariel Castro three female victims on the city's west side, said Imperial Women Activists Group Leader Kathy Wray Coleman. "We seek a meeting with the police chief and deputy police chief around the epidemic of rape and murder against women and the gunning down by Cleveland police spouting 137 bullets of unarmed 30- year-old Black female Malissa Williams. " (Editor's note: Tim Russell, 43, was shot dead along with Williams following a police car chase on November 29, 2012 that began in downtown Cleveland and ended in neighboring East Cleveland. Russell was the driver of the car, a 1979 Chevy Malibu Classic, and Williams was a passenger. Both were pronounced dead at the scene and a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury is currently hearing evidence for a potential criminal indictment of the 13 non- Blacks officers that did the shooting and are still gainfully employed by the city of Cleveland as police officers).
Coleman said also that Black women should get promoted to ranking police supervisor jobs, to the top brass in the Cleveland Police Department and to jobs in the city law department. Though the law director is a White woman as is new Deputy Police Chief O' Neil, and the new police chief is a Black male, the safety director is a White male and the chief prosecutor a Spanish male, Black women have been left out of key police and law department leadership roles under the Jackson administration, said Coleman. (www.clevelandurbannews.com) /(www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
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