The city of Cleveland announced during a press conference late Friday afternoon that administrative charges are pending against three officers regarding the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014.
As Cleveland.com reports, the press conference comes after a yearlong investigation into the actions of Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback, the two Cleveland police officers involved in the shooting. The investigation also focused on the 911-call taker and the police dispatcher who sent the officers to Cudell Recreation Center on Nov. 22, 2014.
The press conference was attended by Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson, Chief of Police Calvin D. Williams, Director of Public Safety Michael McGrath and Deputy Chief of Field Operations Wayne Drummond, who was appointed the chairperson of the Critical Incident Review Committee, which looked into the shooting.
“The chief empaneled CIRC to review and conduct an administrative review of all the actions of all the officers or members involved in the incident that we just talked about for compliance with the rules and regulations, our general police orders, the rules of the civil service commission, our training, our tactics, the standards of the Division of Police,” Drummond said.
“Also, the chief charged CIRC with providing recommendations relative to our training, policies and equipment needs and just overall assessment of the incident,” Drummond continued. “CIRC completed that investigation. We turned over our findings and recommendations to the chief. The chief ultimately will make a determination of our findings.”
Drummond said that CIRC considered details from the internal-affairs investigation, the investigations by the county prosecutor’s office, the highway patrol’s investigation and the sheriff’s investigation when making their determination and recommendations to the chief of police.
Details of exactly what charges will be filed against the officers and personnel involved were not released at the press conference; Chief Williams said that a report would be made available at a later time.
He also said that all the investigations have been completed and reviewed, and the department is coming to the final stages of the administrative process.
“Currently I have reviewed the Critical Incident Review Committee’s report and made a recommendation on some of the items in that report to the Director of Public Safety for a hearing for possible violations of our orders, our rules and regulations, and our tactics and training procedures,” Williams said.
Williams indicated that at least one of those involved would have a hearing in front of him. A reporter asked him to confirm that it meant a possible punishment of 30 days or less, and the chief confirmed that was indeed the case.
These announcements come almost a year after a grand jury elected not to bring criminal charges against the officers. A probate court judge awarded the family of Tamir Rice a $6 million settlement from the city.
Read more at Cleveland.com.