CLEVELAND — Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb has asked the FBI to investigate three officers in the police department's gang unit for possible misconduct, the city said in a statement late Friday.
The city won’t say what the officers are accused of doing but said an internal investigation revealed a possible pattern of misconduct related to use of force.
Typically, the FBI is called in to review possible civil rights violations related to the use of force.
Jeff Follmer, the head of police union, told 3News the an internal city investigation already cleared the officer. He said he believes the FBI referral is politically motivated, a reference to the new mayor’s campaign promises to aggressively investigate possible police misconduct.
The city did not acknowledge it asked for the FBI investigation until after cleveland.com published a story today about it and sought details.
The officers involved have been temporarily reassigned. The FBI doesn’t comment on its investigations. The city says at the moment the FBI is just reviewing the request.
The internal review was conducted by the Cleveland Division of Police Internal Affairs Unit and included departmental reports, information, body worn camera footage and data, the city said. The findings indicated potential patterns of police use of force incidents, involving several detectives. The actions of the detectives’ direct supervisor at the time of the alleged incidents are also under review, the city said.
“The City of Cleveland takes matters of alleged police misconduct seriously and expects officers to conduct their duties constitutionally and in accordance with the laws. The City of Cleveland, Division of Police will cooperate fully with the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” said Interim Chief Wayne Drummond.
*Editor's Note: The video in the player above is from and unrelated, previous report.
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