A West Virginia police chief has resigned from his position following criticism over his hiring of the former Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014.
DS Teubert voluntarily resigned as police chief of the White Sulfur Springs Police Department and demoted himself to patrolman, Mayor Kathy Glover announced during a city council meeting Monday night.
White Sulfur Springs is in southeastern West Virginia, about 370 miles from Cleveland. It has a population of approximately 2,220.
Both Teubert and Glover faced criticism over Teubert’s hiring of Timothy Loehmann, who fatally shot Tamir in Cleveland on Nov. 22, 2014, as he responded to a call of someone pointing a gun at people. Loemann did not face charges for the shooting and was fired from the Cleveland Police Department in 2017 over an unrelated matter. Glover announced Loehmann’s resignation from the White Sulfur Springs department last week following a public outcry. Neither Teubert nor Glover responded to repeated questions about his hiring date.
Glover previously told NBC News that Loehmann was hired at Teubert’s request and recommendation to work as a police trainee and volunteer employee for the city and that he had resigned on July 1. he has resigned from the police department since leaving Cleveland.
Deputy Chief Julian R. Byer Jr. was sworn in as the new chief of White Sulfur Springs last Wednesday, Glover said.
In a statement he read during Monday night’s meeting, Glover said the police chief oversaw hiring, firing and disciplinary actions for the department.
“As mayor, I understand your outrage and emotional investment in this entire situation,” she said a room full of constituentsaccording to video of the meeting posted online.
She said Loehmann’s name “didn’t bring up any memories” for her personally when he was hired, and that she “trusted the results of the extensive requirements” for the position “and the due diligence of the department head in inducting him.”
“When the previous incident was revealed, we acted as calmly, quickly and professionally as we could to validate the allegations that were circulating on social media and other sources,” Glover said.
She said she consulted with the city attorney to “review what little I knew” and that, on their recommendation, they met with Teubert on the morning of July 1, when she reviewed information from Loehmann’s police department personnel file. . . Later that day, she met with Loehmann, who resigned effective immediately, she said.
“While I was not aware of the situation regarding hiring, I still take responsibility as a city leader,” Glover said. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
She also promised to change the city’s police hiring process.
“I accept that there are errors in the current process we have in place and these errors will be reviewed and changed in the future,” Glover said. “I sincerely apologize to the Rice family for the unwanted and unnecessary attention this matter has brought to each of you.”
Councilman Ryan Lockhart proposed creating a public safety review board for the police department. He said he “felt imperative” that the city “adapt and implement something” to protect the community from what it had just experienced.
“In the future, this should save our citizens and the community from the dangers everyone has experienced over the past few weeks with Officer Loehmann’s ordeal,” he said. “This will prohibit something of this magnitude from happening again.”
The review board would consist of three members who serve as a liaison between the city council and the city regarding employment and hiring decisions and disciplinary actions for the police department, Lockhart said. He proposed that the three members be the acting mayor, a councilor and a general citizen approved by the council. The board would have the power to review and approve all police department hires, along with the chief, he said.
The City Council unanimously approved his proposal.
Tamir was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center when Loehmann shot and killed him seconds after Loehmann and his then-partner, Frank Garmback, a veteran training officer, arrived. The caller told a 911 dispatcher that he was probably a young man and that the gun looked fake, but this was never relayed to Loehmann and Garmback. Tamir was black. His murder sparked months of protests against police treatment of black people. In May 2017, about three years after killing Rice, Loehmann was fired by the Cleveland Police Department, which said his 2013 application contained inaccuracies.
Teubert, who did not return repeated interview requests or comment, defended his decision to hire Loehmann in an interview with Cleveland.com before any of his firings. He told the outlet that he spent a year conducting a background check and expressed surprise that the hire had drawn widespread attention.
“As a person, I observed the entire situation,” Teubert said. “I did a background check. I researched everything. It’s just a sad situation. Does any police officer in the world stand a chance when he is involved in a shooting? Do they deserve to never work as police officers again or is it just this shooting?”
He also said he doesn’t believe Loehmann did anything wrong.
“What crime was he convicted of?” Teubert said. “I just want everyone to be fair about all of this. If I thought he had done something illegal or wrong in some way, I wouldn’t have hired him.”
During the public comment portion of the city council meeting, some residents expressed disappointment in Loehmann’s hiring and a lack of faith in Glover’s leadership.
Jerrell Newsome, 39, told Glover directly that it was unacceptable for her and Teubert to hire a man who took a child’s life and trust him with a gun.
“You should resign your position and let us elect a new mayor,” Newsome said.
His statement was met with loud applause.
Glover did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday about calls for her to resign.
Another resident, Sonia Brown, 67, praised Lockhart for proposing the new public safety board but raised concerns about how Loehmann had passed the background check.
“Somebody failed us,” Brown said. “This could have been very bad for our city.”
In an interview Wednesday, Brown called the hiring “a very egregious oversight.”
“I don’t think they had the citizens’ best interests in mind when they hired him,” she said.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
