Associated Press
CLEVELAND — Cleveland’s police chief has held a disciplinary hearing for the 911 dispatcher who took a call that led to an officer fatally shooting 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a black boy who was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center in 2014.
The caller told dispatcher Constance Hollinger that the suspicious person was probably a juvenile with a fake weapon. Hollinger is accused of not relaying that to another dispatcher communicating with responders.
A prosecutor said the responding officers, who are white, believed the gun was real. They weren’t criminally charged, but also face potential internal discipline.
The police union president says Hollinger is a good dispatcher who responded according to training and experience.
She could face up to 10 days of unpaid suspension. The chief makes that decision. The was no immediate word when the chief will release his decision.