What began as a deadly police shooting and a super-sized shit sandwich for the mayor’s administration is now a deadly police shooting investigation and a chorus of “uhm,” “ah” and “erm, you see…”
The shit sandwich is still very much on the city’s plate, as well.
Following his rather ineffectual response to the deadly shooting brought on by Cleveland police Nov. 29, which resulted in two deaths, Mayor Frank Jackson announced his intent to bring in an outside group to assist in the review of officers’ practices that night.
He did not name a particular oversight agency during his Dec. 27 news conference, though mentioned that he had contacted the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. A response is anticipated in the coming weeks (maybe?), regarding any investigation into the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams and the protocol employed by police.
Similarly, the NAACP and other civil rights groups and representation have called for a federal probe. James Hardiman, legal director for the ACLU of Ohio, urged for impartiality in any investigation, whether in locally or more broadly.
“This is not an indictment of the people or agencies currently assigned to the investigation. However, putting local law enforcement in charge of investigating themselves is clearly not the best way to conduct an impartial, independent inquiry,” Hardiman said.
Presently, a criminal investigation is taking place via East Cleveland police (which, on another note, will undergo a dramatic staff cut early next year), the Cuyahoga County sheriff’s office and the state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Hardiman’s organization expressed a strong desire for the East Cleveland Police Department and the sheriff’s office to withdraw from any investigation, citing even tangential connections to the case.
“The public must have strong faith that this investigation is impartial. Involvement of those who were parties to the incident will only undermine the probe – no matter how well it is conducted,” Hardiman wrote in a letter to County Prosecutor Tim McGinty.
The ongoing internal review process would be expected to reveal findings within about six weeks.
“If our officers act in accordance with our policies and procedures, they will have our full support and they will be protected,” Jackson said. “But if officers go outside the parameters they we have set, then there will be consequences.”
This article appears in Dec 26, 2012 – Jan 1, 2013.
What a crock of shit.
I don’t care if Garbage Can Man Inaction Jackson brings in Jesus Christ and the 12 Apostles, these cops will be exonerated and praised for using so many rounds to kill these ruthless felons.
Sorry, but no matter WHAT the circumstances and how many witnesses in Police shootings that PROVED the Police were wrong in the last 10 years, they have all been let go scott free.
I think I will go buy be a M50 machine gun, load up a 500 round bandoleer, tie a canary to its perch in its cage and go bird hunting, then reload another bandoleer “just to make sure”.
now that’s funny, why go to all that expense?
This is not the first time this has happened, I was caught up in a situation like this a couple of years ago in east cleveland. There was Cleveland police, east cleveland and univeristy police blocking off windermere street from both ends with all of their guns out a pointed at me. My car had blown a head gasket and was smoking really bad, I was just trying to get it home. I had done nothing wrong and the police was not looking for me for any thing, so they really had no reason to have stopped me, and I did not think they were there to help me get the car home. So to finnish the story, and white east cleveland popo gave me a ticket for no seat belt that was locked a cross my waist. So I had to go to court and the judge tossed out the ticket and had to pay $65.00 court cost.
And the moral to this story is…? If the police say stop, STOP! You probably won’t get shot then. Don’t run from the police, don’t point anything at them, don’t act like a badass and just be respectful and you won’t get shot.
I couldn’t do the job of a cop…WAY too much stress and not good pay either…Not to mention the type of people they have to deal with daily…Stands to reason why they have such short fuses…
Just sayin’