Feds to probe Cleveland police department’s use of force

Associated Press

TOLEDO

The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it will open a wide-ranging civil- rights investigation into the use of force by Cleveland’s police department, whose officers fired 137 shots at the end of a massive police chase last fall, killing two likely unarmed people.

Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said the investigation will look beyond the November car chase that involved more than 60 patrol cars and ended in the shootings of Timothy Russell, 43, and his 30-year-old passenger, Malissa Williams.

Perez said the probe will not be a criminal investigation; its focus is the entire department, not individual officers.

It will analyze several years of excessive-force claims as well as police policies, training and procedures, he said.