Cuyahoga County Sheriff Harold Pretel is refusing to seek independent investigations into three women’s deaths that occurred during encounters with his deputies, despite a growing call for more scrutiny from the victims’ families and advocacy organizations.
Stanley Jackson, an attorney for the three families, said relatives fear they’ll never know the truth if the sheriff’s department investigates its own cases.
Since George Floyd’s murder in 2020 brought national attention to police accountability, more law enforcement leaders across Ohio have begun turning over cases involving their own officers to outside investigators. The Cuyahoga County sheriff has not followed suit…