From [HERE] A week after surveillance footage was released showing Cleveland police officers shooting a black 12-year-old, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday said that the city's police officers use excessive and unnecessary force far too often, are poorly trained in using firearms and endanger the public and their fellow officers with their recklessness.

The findings, the result of a 20-month investigation into the city's policing standards, were presented at a press conference by Attorney General Eric Holder. As a result of the investigation, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson signed an agreement with the Justice Department to have a court-appointed monitor oversee reform.

The DOJ investigation found a systemic pattern of reckless and inappropriate use of force by officers and concerns about their search-and-seizure practices. It also said officers frequently violate people's civil rights, blaming faulty tactics, inadequate training and a lack of supervision and accountability. The result is a deep mistrust of the city’s law enforcement authorities, especially in the black community, the report concluded.

The report found that Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) officers "engage in excessive force far too often, and that the use of excessive force by CDP officers is neither isolated, nor sporadic."