Six-month suspension for lazy officers who mistook woman's body for a deer

Sometimes the goons get hauled into line

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The two Cleveland police officers who mistook a slain woman's body for a dead deer and drew criticism to a department already accused of being insensitive and uncaring were suspended Tuesday for six months without pay.

Safety Director Martin Flask said the punishment should communicate to officers and the community that Cleveland demands more of its police.

"This is a clear message to the community that this conduct will not be tolerated," Flask said in an interview Tuesday.

That conduct occurred early April 5 after horrified motorists called police to say a dead woman's body had been dumped on the side of Interstate 90 near West 41st Street.

Patrolmen Matthew Prince and David Muniz were assigned to investigate. Instead, they drove past Angel Bradley-Crockett's nude body without stopping or shining their spotlight and told a dispatcher to have ODOT pick up a dead deer. The officers, who each have more than eight years on the job, returned toWest Park Cemetery where they parked their cruiser and spent nearly two hours of their shift on that day.

The incident prompted criticism of the department from throughout Northeast Ohio, including from Police Chief Michael McGrath, who sent a stern message to the department on April 9 telling officers that if they aren't dedicated then find another job.

The chief's memo came two weeks after a commission, formed in the wake of 11 bodies being found in the East Side home of Anthony Sowell, recommended training the the city's police to show more empathy and sensitivity.

The department's Internal Affairs unit investigated Muniz and Prince. The investigation did not uncover any criminal acts by the officers, according to the Cleveland prosecutor.

But Prince, 39, and Muniz, 43, were charged with administrative rule violations, including failing to investigate, neglecting to patrol the area they were assigned and for making false reports about what they were doing while on patrol.

"The actions of the two officers seriously diminished the image and credibility of the Division of Police and resulted in a loss of confidence by the public that the Police will respond when called, and will respond appropriately," Flask said in a written statement Tuesday.

The city's charter had limited Flask's punishment to a 30-day suspension or firing the officers. However, in this instance the officers, who might otherwise have lost their jobs worth $81,800 in salary and benefits, did not object.

The suspension started Tuesday and ends in late November.

"We accept the punishment that the safety director thought was appropriate," said Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Steve Loomis, who defended the officers as having otherwise unblemished records.

Patricia Bradley, Bradley-Crockett's mother, declined to comment Tuesday.

Police say that the 28-year-old woman was robbed, beaten and strangled before being dumped on the roadside.

Stephon Davis, 30, and his 33-year-old girlfriend, Latesha Santos, are in county jail charged with aggravated murder in her death.

With the ruling against the officers, Mayor Frank Jackson's administration announced new measures to supervise police using technology that pinpoints the location of squad cars.

This automatic vehicle location system showed that Prince and Muniz drove past Bradley-Crockett's body at more than 50 miles an hour and that they spent nearly two hours of their shift that day parked in a cemetery.

That technology was installed in Cleveland police cars to help dispatchers assign officers to trouble based on their location.

But the automatic-vehicle locators will now be used by supervisors to monitor officers' movements and dispatchers were not required to check that all of the vehicles' locators were working.

Original report here



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