Documents obtained by 3News claim Karl Racine encountered an off-duty police officer as he tried to enter the casino while drunk. Racine was not criminally charged.
CLEVELAND — A Cleveland councilman is calling for the resignation of the city’s federal police monitor following an incident at Jack Casino earlier this year.
In an open letter issued prior to Tuesday’s council meeting, Ward 16 Councilman Brian Kazy called on Karl Racine to “spare the City of Cleveland the disruption of remaining in office” after Racine allegedly encountered an off-duty police officer at the casino while drunk. According to incident reports and police radio traffic obtained by 3News, a man identified as Racine tried to enter the casino just after 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 7 and refused to leave when asked. The off-duty officer then requested assistance in handling Racine (who was described as “pretty intox(icated)”), but Racine left the area before additional law enforcement could arrive.
Racine has not been criminally charged in connection with the incident, however Police Chief Annie Todd’s office “confirms that during a previously scheduled meeting on January 8th, Mr. Racine informed her of an interaction he had with an off-duty officer, during which he was denied entry to the casino.” Racine was asked if he wanted to file a complaint against the officer, but declined.
Kazy’s letter attempted to shine more light on the matter, with the councilman stating that Racine tried to use his status as a U.S. Department of Justice representative to get into the casino. Kazy also wrote that Racine is now being investigated by Cleveland’s Office of Professional Standards as a result of the episode.
“The fact that we are even at this point, there is an open investigation, and this incident is a news story is an embarrassment to the Department of Justice, (U.S. District Court) Judge (Solomon) Oliver, yourself, Hogan Lovells, the Cleveland Police Department and all of the monitoring team,” Kazy said. “It would behoove you to do the right thing, display leadership and remove yourself and your law firm, Hogan Lovells from leadership of the City of Cleveland consent decree.”
Racine, the former attorney general for the District of Columbia, has guided Cleveland’s police monitoring team with his law firm Hogan Lovells since 2023. Members of his staff make up to $750 an hour for their work in making sure the city is in compliance with a DOJ consent decree meant to curb excessive force and other alleged violations by members of the police department. That decree has been in force since 2015, with Racine being the fourth lead monitor in 10 years.
The relationship between the city and Racine has not always been rosy, and members of council have recently raised concerns about the cost of Hogan Lovells’ work. Late last year, Racine accused the city of owing his team more than $286,000 in unpaid bills, with the city claiming that the invoices had to be approved by the courts before payments could be made.
“How do you quantify a cost, in dollars and cents, the distrust that community members have for law enforcement?” Racine asked 3News during a joint interview with Todd last month. During that sit-down, Racine did praise the relationship the monitoring team had built with Todd and her staff.
Per Kazy, Cleveland’s consent decree allows for the “replacement of the monitor” if that person has “failed to satisfactorily perform his duties.” If Racine does not resign by this Friday, Kazy says he will formally request his removal by the federal judge overseeing the decree.
Racine did not respond to 3News’ requests for comment.
3News’ Lynna Lai contributed to this report.
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