Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb Joins Controversial Club of Mayors Whose Drivers Have Been Caught Using Emergency Lights

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Mayor Justin Bibb landed this week on a list of mayors who faced controversy after their drivers used emergency lights or sirens to blast traffic lights at intersections, leading to crashes .

Bibb’s driver is under investigation for potential policy violations after surveillance video showed he used his emergency lights to drive through a red light in downtown Cleveland. Another vehicle crossing the intersection of Superior Avenue and East 12th Street around 8:55 a.m. Thursday struck Bibb’s SUV as it passed with its blue and red lights on.

Bibb’s driver was not responding to an emergency. Cleveland Police Chief Annie Todd, citing preliminary information collected by police, now says the driver’s actions violated department policy. He risks a suspension of up to three days.

Bibb, who has said nothing publicly about whether he condoned his driver’s conduct, would not be the first mayor to find himself in the hot seat for such an incident. Similar controversies have played out in recent years in Boston, Atlanta and Jersey City, where each mayor has faced public scrutiny for following their own traffic rules.

In some cases, reports show that mayors’ security detail continued to violate traffic rules even after being stopped for the first time.

The Boston Police Department, for example, determined that Mayor Michelle Wu’s driver ran a red light while flashing emergency lights, which contributed to a June 2023 crash involving Wu. This went to contrary to what the city said at the time of the crash, when it initially absolved Wu’s driver of wrongdoing.

The driver of the other vehicle, who had her 1-year-old child in the backseat at the time, later told the Boston Globe that she felt like the city and police “wanted to blame her.” » for the accident. The accident sent the mother and boy to the hospital.

Two months later, in August, Wu’s driver ran emergency lights again while running another red light. Boston’s CBS affiliate WBZ obtained surveillance footage showing the second incident. The news channel interviewed Bostonians who described Wu’s actions as an “abuse of power.”

In Jersey City there is another example. The city’s mayor, Steve Fulop, faced the heat last August when the vehicle he was in was struck at an intersection. An accident report obtained by Hudson County View stated that its driver used emergency lights at a red light to avoid “being in a dangerous position.”

The other driver admitted seeing the emergency lights but was unable to stop in time to avoid a crash, the outlet reported.

Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed found himself in a similar firestorm in September 2016, when his driver was involved in an accident while rushing the mayor to a meeting. That officer received a reprimand from his department and was later charged with four misdemeanors for the crash, including improper use of sirens, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Three months later, an investigation by Atlanta’s ABC affiliate WSB revealed that the mayor’s security detail was back, using lights and sirens to rush the mayor to other destinations, such as a party watching a presidential debate. Experts who spoke to the TV channel called this a blatant violation of the law.

In the Cleveland case, police have so far refused to release a copy of the accident report involving Bibb and his driver. Although Chief Todd indicated that the mayor’s driver could face internal police disciplinary action, city officials have said nothing about who, if anyone, would be charged in connection with the the accident itself.

The driver of an emergency vehicle is prohibited from using lights and sirens when not responding to an emergency call or actively pursuing a suspected criminal. It is also a violation of Ohio law when the driver of an emergency vehicle runs a red light or stop sign without “due regard for the safety of all persons using the street or road.” ‘highway’.

Both offenses are minor misdemeanors.

Bibb’s accident and potential misconduct by his driver comes three months after Bibb fired Deputy Safety Director Jakimah Dye for violating city policies related to her use of a city vehicle.

In Dye’s case, she was in a car accident on Feb. 17 with four children inside. At her disciplinary hearing, Dye said she was unaware of a city policy prohibiting children from riding in city vehicles.

Dye’s boss at the time of the accident, former safety director Karrie Howard, later told a reporter that he had driven children in his own city vehicle. Howard was placed under investigation and resigned shortly after.