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Cleveland police fire 1 supervisor, demote 2, discipline 9 in connection with deadly chase www.privateofficer.com

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Cleveland police chase and shooting
CLEVELAND, Ohio June 13 2013 — One Cleveland police sergeant was fired, two other supervisors were demoted, and nine were disciplined for their roles in a police chase and shooting on Nov. 29, authorities said today.
Sgt. Michael Donegan was fired because of "the gravity of your failure to execute your responsibilities as a sergeant of police for the city of Cleveland," said City Safety Director Martin Flask.
Flask, Mayor Frank G. Jackson and Police Chief Michael McGrath revealed the results of the administrative review for the 12 supervisors involved in the pursuit during a news conference this morning. The review did not address the use of deadly force. That review is currently being conducted by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty.
Jackson said it was "not a pleasant duty" to issue the report on the shooting, and McGrath said the incident had an impact on the police department and community.
Officials have identified 104 police officers involved in the chase. McGrath will determine which should face administrative charges related to the incident.
Officials said Donegan "disengaged himself" from the pursuit even though he knew there was a massive chase under way.
In April, McGrath said his office and the department's Integrity Control Section reviewed the supervisors' actions of Nov. 29 and determined that they appeared to have violated the department's mission statement, standards of conduct, several rules on vehicle pursuits and generally failed to keep the chase under control.
The supervisors are Donegan, Capt. Ulrich Zouhar, Lt. Paul Wilson, Sgt. Mathew Putnam, Sgt. Patricia Coleman, Sgt. Randolph Daley, Sgt. Jason Edens, Sgt. Brian Chetnick, Sgt. Brian Lockwood, Sgt. Mark Bickerstaff, Sgt. Matthew Gallagher and Sgt. Richard Martinez.
All have been with the department since at least 1998; Zouhar is a 28-year veteran of the force.
In April, the results of an internal review showed more than 30 percent of patrol officers violated at least one policy during November's high-speed chase, either failing to follow a supervisor order to terminate the chase or by driving unsafely. About 13 percent of supervisors violated a policy.
The review, which included interviews with as many as 115 patrol officers, supervisors and dispatchers, sought to determine whether police followed the department's policies and procedures governing the pursuit of suspects, when more than a third of Cleveland police personnel on duty the night of Nov. 29 played a role in chasing Timothy Russell and his passenger, Malissa Williams.
The chase, which began downtown after officers believed someone had fired a gun from Russell's 1979 Chevrolet Malibu SS, zigzagged through Cleveland for about a half hour and ended in a middle-school parking lot in East Cleveland. During the pursuit, officers believed the gunfire had continued and, at one point, they reported that the car had rammed a police cruiser.
Thirteen Cleveland officers fired 137 bullets at the suspects. One officer fired so many rounds, he had to reload his weapon at least once, according to a lawyer representing the officers.
However, when the bodies were removed from the car, police found no gun or shell casings in the vehicle.
The findings of the administrative review in April also did not address the use of deadly force, because that issue is at the heart of an open criminal investigation.
McGinty is expected to present a grand jury with evidence collected during a state criminal probe headed up by Attorney General Mike DeWine.

Source-Cleveland.com

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