A Cuyahoga County judge has slowed Cleveland's plans to replace 45 city police officers at Hopkins International Airport with private security workers.
The city had hoped to open bids from prospective security companies in 11 days, and it met with representatives of nine companies Friday.
But later in the day attorneys for the police patrolmen's union persuaded Common Pleas Judge Nancy Fuerst to postpone the opening of bids until she had ruled on a lawsuit the union filed against the city on Thursday.
The police union challenged the legality of the city's airport officer swap, contending that Ohio law requires that city officers patrol the airport and that the proposal would provide privately employed security officers with illegal powers.
The Fraternal Order of Police, which represents supervisors, joined the patrolmen in the lawsuit Friday.
Fuerst met with the opposing sides in her chambers. She said the city can continue to solicit bids for the airport security contract in the meantime but cannot open them until she delivers her decision sometime in December.
"I know that time is of the essence here, and the court will work as quickly as possible so that you can take action," Fuerst said.
The opposing sides will meet with the judge again on Dec. 12 and may hold an evidentiary hearing then.
City Law Director Bob Triozzi said the city would continue accepting bids and moving forward with the airport security plan.
"We're hopeful that out of those companies that have expressed interest we can find a successful bidder who will meet our needs, and that we can get more officers on the street as soon as possible," Triozzi said.
Stephen Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, said he has asked Mayor Frank Jackson to abandon the privatization plan because it will cost the city nearly $5 million to reassign the officers to the street.
Loomis said federal Homeland Security money is used to pay the city police officers, but that money won't be available for private-duty security forces. He wants Jackson to take the $5 million he is prepared to pay to private security officers and apply it toward overtime for additional street patrols.
"We could have full patrol cars on every shift in every district," Loomis said.
Under the city's proposed police reassignment plan, only one additional officer per district per shift would be available, Loomis said.
