(Cleveland) – The Cleveland Police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 has been fired, and his partner on the force will be suspended for 10 days.
City officials made the announcement Tuesday morning in a news conference at Cleveland Public Hall.
Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback were called out to the Cudell Recreation Center on Cleveland’s west side to a report of a young man who was reportedly pointing a gun at people. Loehmann shot and killed Rice, not knowing he was only 12-years-old, and not knowing the gun he held was a replica.
Both were found guilty of violating police department rules. Loehmann was not fired for his role in the shooting, however, but for lying on his job application.
Below is a statement from the City of Cleveland:
Director of Public Safety, Michael McGrath and Cleveland Police Chief Calvin D. Williams announce that discipline has been issued relative to the November 22, 2014 officer involved shooting. View supporting documents.
On November 22, 2014, members of the Cleveland Division of Police were involved in an officer involved shooting at Cudell Recreation Center which tragically took the life of 12 year old Tamir Rice. Following this incident, as in all use of force incidents, a thorough investigation was conducted. Today we will discuss the results of the investigation, and the results of the administrative review that followed.
Immediately following the shooting, the Use of Deadly Force Investigation team (UDFIT), convened and began to investigate the incident. Members of UDFIT conducted interviews and gathered evidence. The findings of this investigation were turned over to the Cuyahoga County Sherriff’s Office who conducted an independent investigation.
In June of 2015, the results of the investigation were turned over to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office reviewed the results of the investigation and, in turn, did not file formal charges against the officers involved. Civil litigation followed and the City of Cleveland reached a settlement agreement with the Rice family.
Once it was determined that the officers would not face criminal charges, Chief of Police Calvin D. Williams ordered that a committee be convened to conduct an administrative review of the incident in its totality. In February, 2016 the Critical Incident Review Committee (CIRC) was formed and consisted of members of the Cleveland Division of Police Command Staff, Integrity Control Section, Training Section and Community Liaison as well as representatives of the Community Relations Board, Office of Professional Standards and the City of Cleveland’s Law Department. The committee determines if there are rule violations and, in turn, forwards those findings to the Chief of Police.
The CIRC members met regularly and reviewed all of the findings of the UDFIT investigation, and the investigation conducted by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office which included reenactments of the incident.
Once formed, the Critical Incident Review Committee reviewed the actions of three Cleveland Police officers and one Cleveland Police dispatcher. The Chief of Police reviewed the findings in the CIRC report and provided a disciplinary recommendation to the Director of Public Safety.
A separate and independent investigation was conducted by the Office of Quality Control, Department of Public Safety, into the hiring process of Patrol Officer Loehmann; specifically statements made regarding his employment history.
The discipline imposed upon two of the members has already been announced. Patrol Officer William Cunningham received a two day suspension for a rule violation stemming from permission to work secondary employment. Patrol Officer Cunningham was working non-approved secondary employment at Cudell Recreation Center at the time of the incident and was not involved in the deadly force incident. Dispatcher Constance Hollinger received an eight day suspension for failing to provide all available information to responding officers.
The CIRC report was forwarded to the Chief of Police for review and disciplinary recommendations. In its review of the Cleveland Police Officers involved in the deadly force incident, Patrol Officer Frank Garmback and Patrol Officer Timothy Loehmann, the CIRC did not find any rule or policy violations other than failure to notify the Communications Control Section upon arrival at Cudell Recreation Center.
Based upon the CIRC report and original UDFIT investigation, Chief Calvin D. Williams determined that there were possible violations relative to Patrol Officer Frank Garmback of General Police Order 2.1.01 Use of Force; if found guilty of this violation, Patrol Officer Garmback could face discipline including suspension up to or beyond 10 days.
The independent investigation conducted by the Office of Quality Control into Patrol Officer Loehman’s statements made regarding employment history on his employment application, found that Patrol Officer Loehman was not truthful in statements made in his personal history statement. Chief Calvin D. Williams determined that this violation rose to the level of termination.
The disciplinary recommendations of the Office of the Chief of Police were forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Safety for review and rendering of discipline. Director of Public Safety, Michael McGrath reviewed all findings associated with these cases, including information provided by the officer’s legal representatives, as well as conducting disciplinary hearings with both Patrol Officer Timothy Loehmann and Patrol Officer Frank Garmback.
As a result the following disciplinary has been ordered and will take effect immediately:
Patrol Officer Frank Garmback was found guilty of violating General Police Order 2.1.01, Part III Sections B and E. Patrol Officer Garmback shall receive a 10 day suspension to be served immediately.
Patrol Officer Timothy Loehmann was found guilty of providing false information on his application for patrol officer, personal history statement. Patrol Officer Timothy Loehmann shall be terminated from employment with the City of Cleveland, Division of Police, effective immediately.
(News Conference photo by Ken Robinson/WTAM 1100)