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Letter to Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams regarding his failure to terminate officers who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

The following is the opening text of an open letter just sent to Cleveland police chief Calvin Williams:

Dear Chief Williams:

Samaria Rice has now spent three Christmases without her son Tamir―that's three Christmases with you failing to terminate the officers responsible for her son's slaying, and otherwise account for or explain the incident. We write on behalf of Ms. Rice and her family to

(1) request that you terminate Officer Timothy Loehmann for killing 12-year-old Tamir Rice over two-years ago, and Officer Frank Garmback for poor policing tactics that resulted in Rice's death;

(2) request that you explain why it is taking so long to announce such accountability;

(3) request a written account of how it is that an officer with Loehmann's well-documented, dubious work history in law enforcement got hired;

(4) request that you announce a policy that ensures that unqualified police officers like Loehmann are never hired again; and

(5) request that you explain why police dispatchers failed to convey important information―and what you are doing to address this problem in the future.

[The complete letter on letterhead is here.]

Related Practice Areas
Constitutional LawPolice Misconduct & Brutality
Tags
tamir-ricesamaria-ricefourth-amendmentconstitutional-rightsconstitutional-litigationcivil-rightspolice-brutalitypolice-misconduct

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