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Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams listens during a press conference with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder as the U.S. Justice Department delivered a scathing review of the Cleveland police department's use-of-force policies and practices Dec. 4, 2014.

(Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer)

A mountain of controversy has racked the police department during Calvin William's first year in the top job, leading many in the community to call for his ouster.

About 10 days before Rice was killed, Tanisha Anderson, a mentally ill mother who was accused of no crime, died after police restrained her in a prone position.

The next month, when the wave of public fervor over Rice's killing was just beginning to recede, the U.S. Justice Department released its findings in an investigation into Cleveland's police that found officers are too quick to use force and mistreat those who suffer from mental illness.

With that, the condemnation of Calvin Williams' police force escalated.

Protesters surrounded the Steelyard Commons Walmart Dec. 20, and the chief stood face-to-face with the protesters and experienced the anger born from the controversy first hand.

Calvin Williams and Dwayne Castleberry had a calm conversation despite the screaming and the chants. Castleberry said people in Cleveland, specifically black citizens, fell like their rights are trampled on, a statement that Williams did not dispute.

The chief challenged Castleberry to look at incidents of police violence against the backdrop of the city's street violence and the challenge it presents for police.

"We had 102 homicides in this city last year. Do you know how many were killed by police officers? Two," Williams said. "So there are 99 people out there that got killed by somebody else. That happens every day."

The chief in January sat with "60 Minutes" to address criticism of the department. He conceded to CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker that there are some "bad guys" on the force who need to be dealt with, but opposed the notion that the department has systemic issues when it comes to use of force.

Calvin Williams, who climbed the leadership ranks from SWAT supervisor to district commander to deputy chief to chief, has spent a lot of time addressing police violence in his rookie year as the department's leader.

With his brother's slaying, the chief is now left to deal with violence in a way that too many Clevelander's already have -- as a loved one left to pick up the pieces of lives destroyed by violence.