The city of Cleveland has filed new use of force policies for its police department with a U.S. District Court.
Chief U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. of the Northern District of Ohio must approve the new policies before officers are trained. Once approved, the new policies are expected to go into effect early next year.
The new reform efforts were developed over the past year when the Department of Justice reached an agreement with the city of Cleveland to reform the Cleveland Division of Police. In May 2015, the Justice Department found the police department engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force.
“Every day, the Cleveland Division of Police takes a step towards becoming a model department for policing throughout the nation,” Police Chief Calvin Williams said in a press release.
“Today, we implement a new use of force policy that will provide our officers with greater clarity in difficult situations and will hopefully lead to better understanding between the division and the community. We look forward to continually working with the citizens we proudly serve each day.”
The reforms come after the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014. There have also been various other fatal encounters between Cleveland police and the community.
Rice, who was black, was holding an Airsoft gun when he was shot by two offers, Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback, on Nov. 22, 2014. The two officers were responding to the park after receiving a call of a “male black sitting on a swing and pointing a gun at people.” Within two seconds of arriving on the scene, Loehmann, who is white, fired two shots, hitting Rice once. Rice died the following day.
A grand jury declined to indict Loehmann, and a lawsuit brought by Rice’s family was eventually settled with the city of Cleveland for $6 million.
More recently, in September, a Cleveland police officer — Alan Buford — was indicted on negligent homicide following the March 2015 shooting death of Brandon Jones, an unarmed 18-year-old black man who was suspected of burglarizing a local grocery store. Buford, who pleaded not guilty, is also black.
Read the new Cleveland police reforms here.
