Bibb Taps U.S. Army Expert to Lead Office Of Professional Standards

Marcus Perez, a U.S. Army veteran who's racked up over 30 military honors in his career, will spearhead the city's Office of Professional Standards, which oversees non-criminal complaints against Cleveland police officers, the Bibb administration announced Thursday.

A Chicago native who attended grade school in Medina, Perez will soon be tasked with overseeing an office that reviews reports of suspected harassment, instances of racial profiling, and other matters essential to the overall relationship between a department still under a federal consent decree and the residents of the city.

City Hall recently selected Chicago-based Hogan Lovells as the new consent decree monitor, and with the final crystallization of the Community Police Commission, and Bibb's upcoming plan for public safety soon to be released, there are a lot of moving parts in bettering policing in Cleveland.

“Marcus’ resume speaks for itself—he’s a highly decorated U.S. Army veteran with an incredible track record at implementing reform-based initiatives in the highest levels of government,” Mayor Bibb said via a press release. “We’re happy he has decided to come home and help lead our police oversight efforts here in Cleveland.”

Bibb is right on this one: Perez returns home a storied individual.

After starting his military career in 2001, Perez worked as a battalion operations officer in the nation's capital, then as an inspector general in Saudi Arabia, then as an Army inspector general at the Pentagon.

Across those two decades, Perez aided in a slew of fraud investigation, wrote lengthy reports on Army suicides and privatized housing, then led phase out of President Biden's Project Airbridge, a Covid-era federal policy implemented to cut down the distribution time of surgical masks and N95s.

The latter job Perez will be leaving to work at City Hall.

“Cleveland has made great strides toward increasing civilian oversight," Perez said via a press release. "It’s an honor to serve this great city and I’m committed to its desire to become a national leader in policing.”

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