CLEVELAND — The city of Shaker Heights is reaching an agreement with teen activists who’ve been leading a police reform effort, even starting a petition originally planning to get charter amendments on the November Ballot.

What You Need To Know

  • Shaker Heights is reaching an agreement with teen activists who’ve been leading a police reform effort

  • The activists have been originally planning to get charter amendments on the November ballot

  • The city is adopting a resolution to adjust police practices

After days and hours of knocking on doors to get community members to sign their petition, 17-year-old Ethan Khorana made his way to Shaker Heights City Hall.

Khorana and his friend, 19-year-old Sam Klein, are activists Spectrum News originally spoke with earlier this year, as they were pushing to get a charter amendment on the November ballot in an effort to improve police transparency and accountability in the city.

Now, they, and the Shaker Citizens for Fair Ticketing PAC, have reached an agreement with the city, which is adopting a resolution to adjust police practices.

"And after that, we get one appointee to the community advisory board that will be advising the mayor and the police chief, and so we’ll be picking that appointment and going over some folks to appoint," Khorana said.

A community-wide listening project, an expanded mental health program and the posting of public records online are all part of the resolution, something the mayor is looking forward to being a part of.

"We come together in the end, and that’s what we did here," Mayor David Weiss said. "So I’m frankly very proud with, with, how we came out on this and, who knows, maybe we’ll be a model for other communities."

Now Khorana is shifting his focus, helping others across the country who also want change within their own police departments.

"State reps across the country who are interested in what we are doing in Shaker Heights, and the Vera Institute gave us a good shout out for what we accomplished in Shaker, and we got to hear from folks who are interested in doing similar things across the country," he said.

Khorana said there's still more the people of Shaker Heights can do to get involved.

"The biggest thing is it’s important, if you’ve been affected by police reform, that you sign up and apply to the advisory committee board that will be created by this policy," he said.

One thing both Weiss and Khrona said they've realized is that they'll be working together for a better community.

"When we focus on our similarities, that’s how we strive for a better future, and this goes to show you that anybody can make change, and it’s important," Khorana said.