By Kasim Ileri
WASHINGTON
Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that a federal investigation into practices by Cleveland police found the department frequently used excessive force.
"We determined that there is reasonable cause to believe that the Cleveland division of public police engages in a pattern and practice of using excessive force," Holder said at a press conference in the city.
Over the course of 18 months, the Justice Department examined 600 cases between 2010 and 2013 that Holder called "troubling, high-profile use of force incidents."
The findings come during a tense period as two separate high-profile cases in as many weeks have seen grand juries chose not to bring charges against white police officers in the killing of unarmed black men.
A New York grand jury Wednesday declined to file criminal charges against New York Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner in July.
The decision intensified ongoing nationwide protests after a Feguson, Missouri, grand jury last week decided not to indict officer Darren Wilson for fatally shoting unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in August.
"In recent days, millions of people throughout our nation have come together, bound by grief and bound by anguish, in response to the tragic deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York City," Holder said.
"The tragic losses of these and far too many other Americans, including just last month the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice here in Cleveland, have really raised urgent national questions."
The black preteen was shot dead by a police officer while playing in a park with an air gun. The officer in that case defended the shooting by saying the toy did not have a yellow label indicating it was toy.
Recent studies have shown that young black males are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than their white teen counterparts.
President Barack Obama said earlier this week that the recent high-profile cases "speaks to the larger issues" debated for decades in the U.S.
The investigation in Cleveland found unnecessary and excessive use of deadly force, including shootings and head strikes with impact weapons as well as less lethal force including Tasers, chemical spray and fists.
The city’s police force also use excessive force against individuals who are mentally ill and in crisis, including in cases where the officers were called exclusively for a welfare check.
Police in the city employ "poor and dangerous tactics that placed officers in situations where avoidable force became inevitable," the report said.
Cleveland and the Justice Department will implement certain reforms for police, according to Holder.
“We have agreed to a statement of principles that will lead to a court enforceable consent decree, including an independent monitor who will oversee the implementation of sustainable reforms, assess compliance based on objective measures and ensure that robust new policies and practices," he added.
The federal investigation began after the city's mayor and activists asked for a review of a number of high-profile cases.
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