CLEVELAND – Cleveland is proposing that officers attempt de-escalation techniques such as taking cover before using force, a tactic that might have prevented an officer from fatally shooting 12-year-old Tamir Rice.
The proposed use-of-force policy made public Thursday is required under an agreement between Cleveland and the U.S. Justice Department to reform the city's police department. A Justice Department investigation found a pattern of Cleveland officers using excessive force and violating people's civil rights.
Tamir was killed in 2014 while playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center. Patrolman Timothy Loehmann shot Tamir within two seconds of a cruiser skidding to a stop near the boy.
Loehmann and partner Frank Garmback weren't charged criminally for Tamir's death. The city settled a federal lawsuit filed by the boy's family for $6 million.
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