Well, tonight I spoke with Officer Steve Loomis, the president of the Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association. Officer Loomis told me that the mayor has instructed the police to continue to enforce the local ordinances that have been pre-empted, but Officer Loomis also told me that he has told the police to not follow the mayor’s order, because he believes the mayor is telling the officers to act illegally. Wow. Wow!
The state pre-empted the local gun laws but the Mayor is ordering the police to continue to enforce the now negated laws. How would it not be a crime to arrest someone for a crime that doesn’t exist? What could be a bigger violation of someone’s civil rights? Certainly enforcing an illegal law creates a huge financial liability for the city. But shouldn’t this be grounds for a criminal charge to be levied against the mayor and anyone else who intentionally violates someones rights?
I do want to express admiration for Steve Loomis and the Police Patrolman’s Association for taking the stand that they are. Doing the right thing is hard sometimes.