In November 2012, an unarmed man and woman in a car drove past police headquarters in downtown Cleveland when their car backfired. Thinking the sound may have been a gunshot, over 100 police personnel launched a massive chase that involved at least 62 police vehicles. The two people were eventually tracked down and shot to death.
The episode prompted a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the Cleveland Division of Police in 2013. After finding that Cleveland police engaged in the “practice of using excessive force,” the Justice Department entered a consent decree with the city of Cleveland and announced that it would appoint a monitor to oversee a five-year reform effort.
