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The officer who killed Tamir Rice was not fired when it happened, but he was fired in 2017 (four years later) after an investigation for withholding information on his application to Cleveland police force.
Retired FBI agent Kimberly Crawford found that Tamir Rice’s death was “justified” and Loehmann’s response was “a reasonable one.” There is nothing justified or reasonable about killing a 12-year-old boy within less than two seconds because you saw him playing with a toy gun.
There is nothing justified or reasonable about a police officer being allowed to work on the force after being deemed “emotionally unstable” and after experiencing a “dangerous loss of composure” during a weapons training exercise.
Defunding the police means suspending paid administrative leave for police officers who murder people. This puts more funding into the community since municipalities don’t have to pay for the harm that policing causes against community members.
Paid administrative leave presumes the right of police to use violence at all, which they shouldn’t have, especially not in the case of 12-year-old boys.
We know that police do not keep us safe, and Tamir Rice’s death (among countless others) proves this. Police don’t solve or prevent criminal activity. They often escalate situations and operate primarily to threaten and surveil Black and brown communities.
People who most need safety feel they can't call the police b/c they know this could threaten their lives. A 911 call ended Tamir Rice’s life. His sister was placed in handcuffs for running to his dying body. His mother was threatened with arrest just for expressing her pain.
This is why defunding the police is essential, and why reform is not enough. Spending more money on more policing does not automatically lead to less violent crime, but it does lead to a greater threat of police violence, especially toward Black folks.
Happy 18th Birthday to Tamir Rice, and may he Rest in Peace.
