GOP convention city in spotlight after Rice case

Cleveland’s proposed $6 million settlement with the family of Tamir Rice is a reminder that its Police Division needs to get its house in order for the Republican National Convention, that will take place there in late July.

Tamir Rice was the black 12-year-old fatally shot in 2014 by a white police officer while holding a pellet gun outside a recreation center. His death was one in a string of incidents damaging police-community relations in Cleveland. Two weeks after Tamir’s death, the U.S. Justice Department released a report — in the works well before the youth’s shooting — concluding that the Police Division “engages in a pattern or practice of the use of excessive force.” Last year, Cleveland agreed to take corrective action.

The $6 million settlement with Tamir’s family, which is pending court approval, would include no admission of wrongdoing by the city. That itself is a crime. But lessons learned from Tamir’s death and other incidents should be ingrained in officers in time for the GOP convention, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors. Those numbers likely will include protesters of various stripes, and the risk of more violence in a campaign season already punctuated by it is very real.

Managing a political convention would be a mighty challenge even for the most respected police department, let alone a troubled one that plans to supplement its ranks with hundreds of officers rented from other communities.

Political conventions are quadrennial celebrations of our political system, and that system guarantees the right to free speech and other civil rights. If protesters are violent, police must restrain them while showing restraint themselves. Cleveland police can regain a measure of public trust by demonstrating professionalism no matter what the Republican convention throws at them. The nation — and much of the world — will be watching.

— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette