If the Cleveland police department had reviewed Timothy Loehmann's file before hiring him, Tamir Rice may not have been shot and killed. In 2012, when he was an officer in Independence, Ohio, Loehmann was found unfit for duty for being emotionally unstable and unable to properly use a firearm. But the Cleveland police department didn't review his record in Independence when conducting a background check, Buzzfeed confirmed.
Two years later Loehmann shot 12-year-old Rice immediately upon coming into contact with him. Police were called with reports that Rice may have had a gun, but it turned out to be fake. A caller suggested this possibility, but the dispatcher chose not to relay that information.
Loehmann lied on his Cleveland application, omitting that he was asked to resign or be fired from the Independence police department. An email recommending Loehmann's dismissal said he couldn't "follow simple directions, could not communicate clear thoughts nor recollections, and his handgun performance was dismal."
So why didn't the Cleveland police find this out before hiring Loehmann? It turns out the department has no "written policy mandating a review of an applicant’s previous employer personnel file." That police will change now that a 12-year-old boy has been killed.
Given today's this year's this nation's history, it's still hard to imagine Loehmann being indicted, though.
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[via Buzzfeed]
