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NPR, formerly National Public Radio, reports
Timothy Loehmann, the police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, was fired by the Cleveland Police Department [May 30]. At a news conference, city authorities announced that the reason for his termination wasn't the deadly incident that brought him to national attention, but rather violations he committed in the course of his hiring process.
"Patrol officer Loehmann had been charged with rule violations concerning his application process to be considered a cadet with the Division of Police--specifically, answers he had provided on his personal history statement", Michael McGrath, the city's director of public safety, told reporters in prepared remarks.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer explains that Loehmann failed to disclose the full circumstances of how his time at a previous police department ended:
"Loehmann was allowed to resign from the Independence department after six months following a series of incidents where supervisors determined he was unfit to be a police officer.
"The disciplinary letter cites a letter in Loehmann's personnel file from Independence that says he was emotionally immature and had 'an inability to emotionally function'. The letter also cites an emotional breakdown Loehmann had on the gun range in Independence."
Cleveland authorities also announced that Frank Garmback, the officer driving the patrol car at the time Loehmann shot Tamir, would be suspended for 10 days for administrative rule violations of his own. He would also be required to take a tactical training course.
The penalties cap a review process conducted by Cleveland's Critical Incident Review Committee, or CIRC, in the wake of Tamir's death and the widespread protests it elicited. As the Plain Dealer reported last month, CIRC already "found no fault in the officers' actions leading up to, during and after the Nov. 22, 2014 shooting at Cudell Recreation Center on Cleveland's West Side".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 02 2017, @08:55PM (5 children)
There are great cops, evil cops, and lots of mediocre cops. It's possible to have a bad day and fuck up your job. If an ordinary fuck-up puts you on trial or dead, would you take that job?
I already don't want to be a cop, but without some protection from fuck-ups? Screw that job. I'd rather live in a homeless shelter.
We need lots of cops -- it is like teachers and janitors and truck drivers, not like pastry chefs and mechanical engineers and actors. We thus can't pay them enough to justify taking insane liability risks. We simply couldn't hire any cops without giving them some extra protection from fuck-ups.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday June 02 2017, @10:40PM (3 children)
There are 3 problems with your thinking:
1. My mistakes don't leave bodies of innocent people on the ground. You are describing these events in a way that amounts to "I shot and killed an innocent person, whoopsie daisy! Hey, are we still cool?"
2. When I screw up, I do my best to mitigate the damage. These officers didn't: Neither one made any kind of effort to see if Rice was still alive, nor to save his life if he was still alive. A charitable interpretation is that they had a complete disregard for the value of his life. A less charitable interpretation is that they were reduce the chance that an inconvenient witness could testify against them.
3. When I screw up, I apologize for it. These cops didn't, and instead took the stance of "I did nothing wrong, nothing bad happened."
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 03 2017, @04:40AM (2 children)
Your mistakes don't leave bodies of innocent people on the ground, so you don't have much to fear. Performing your job doesn't expose you to much risk.
Yes yes, if you somehow did kill a few people, you'd be on trial, but this is not likely to happen. You have no need to worry. You are not deterred from taking the job due to liability.
We're asking people to perform a job that has a crazy-high risk of a fuck-up killing an innocent person. Nobody with half a brain will do that if they don't get special protection.
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Saturday June 03 2017, @11:22AM (1 child)
If they NEED that protection they've no right to be in the job.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 04 2017, @05:00AM
OK, no cops then, because none were available to be hired. You won't mind paying the local organized crime syndicate for protection, right?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Saturday June 03 2017, @12:21AM
An ordinary fuck-up by a teacher, janitor, truck driver, pastry chef, mechanical engineer or actor could (in three of the examples will) cost them their job immediately. Why not cops?
If an ordinary fuck-up by a teacher, janitor, truck driver, pastry chef, mechanical engineer or actor results in somebody's death they WILL face trial. Why not cops?
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.