CHICAGO: Six US police officers who fired 137 bullets into a car carrying two unarmed African Americans lost their jobs Tuesday, three years after the deadly car chase in Cleveland, Ohio.
City officials said they hoped the disciplinary actions would bring “closure” to a city struggling to rebuild community trust following a series of high-profile police shootings.
Cleveland police also faced criticism after Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy carrying a toy gun, was fatally shot by a white officer at a playground in 2014. A grand jury declined last month to issue charges in that case.
Cleveland pledged to overhaul its police force and aspire to “bias-free” law enforcement under an agreement reached with the US Justice Department in May.
The “consent decree” was announced two days after protesters filled Cleveland streets following the acquittal of a white police officer charged in the deadly 2012 chase.
