The police department in East Cleveland, Ohio is rocked by scandal as its officers are being charged with excessive force, reported The Daily Beast on Wednesday — and so many officers are caught up in the prosecution that the department is short-staffed and begging for assistance.
"Eleven former and current officers from an Ohio police department riddled with corruption and brutality were indicted Wednesday on charges they assaulted and bullied citizens who presented no threat," reported Tracy Connor. "The indictments bring to 16 the number of law enforcement officers in East Cleveland who have been charged in the last seven months. So many cops have been sidelined that the City Council made an emergency request for reinforcements from the state police and county sheriff."
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley slammed the officers in a press conference — and vowed to clean up the force.
“Make no mistake. There has been a cancer growing in the East Cleveland Police Department,” said O'Malley. "We are doing our best to remove every tentacle of that cancer, so this department can rebuild and grow to put itself in a position to hire officers who will enforce the law as well as follow the law. This is a sad day for all of law enforcement.”
"The disturbing footage showed an officer stomping on a suspect who was already being held on the ground by another officer; an officer kicking someone who was on their knees in the back; officers punching a suspect on the ground while yelling 'Get his ass!' and then congratulating themselves for a 'nice little ass whooping,'" said the report. "Other video showed a cop jumping out of a car, attacking a man on the ground and kicking his groin; an officer tasing a man on the ground with his hands up; a sergeant hitting a man in the head three times; officers breaking an arrestee’s phone and then gleefully discussing attacking him; a cop repeatedly tasing a suspect who was on the ground and already handcuffed. Cops were also shown punching a man in handcuffs who was already bleeding from the head and had a broken pelvis. The prosecutor said he had been hit by the police car."
This comes as federal investigators released a scathing report on civil rights violations at the Louisville Police Department this week, including a pattern of officers using excessive force and calling Black suspects "monkey" and "boy".
