1 / 13 Tanisha Anderson: Died Nov. 13, 2014, age 37, Cleveland

Over a year after Tanisha Anderson lost her life in an incident with Cleveland police officers, <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/11/vigil_marks_anniversary_of_tan.html" target="_blank">her family is still waiting for answers</a>. <br><br>The 37-year-old died after her mother called 911 while Anderson was having a "<a href="http://media.newsnet5.com/uploads/Anderson%20Wrongful%20Death%20Lawsuit.pdf?_ga=1.23829242.1315093678.1418058803" target="_blank">mental health episode</a>," as described in the family's subsequent lawsuit against city police. Officials say that when officers tried to take Anderson to a treatment facility, she struggled and then went limp. Her family says police slammed her to the ground and put a knee in her back. A medical examiner ruled Anderson’s death a homicide, the result of being "<a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/01/medical_examiner_releases_full.html" target="_blank">physically restrained in a prone position by Cleveland police</a>." Her heart condition and bipolar disorder were also considered factors.<br><br>The Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/06/cuyahoga_county_sheriffs_depar_4.html" target="_blank">began investigating the incident in July</a> at the request of the prosecutor’s office. <br><br>In a wrongful death lawsuit, Anderson's family alleges that CPD Officers Scott Aldridge and Bryan Myers <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tanisha-anderson-lawsuit_n_6430080" target="_blank">did not provide medical attention</a> to Anderson as she lay on the ground unconscious.<br><br>Aldridge had <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/01/cleveland_cop_involved_in_tani.html" target="_blank">previously been suspended</a> for violating the department's use-of-force policies, according to Northeast Ohio Media Group, and was disciplined in 2012 for his role in the deaths of Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell (see slide #6 in this collection). Aldridge and Myers deny that they caused Anderson’s death and have <a href="http://www.cleveland19.com/story/29502390/officers-ask-judge-to-dismiss-lawsuit-in-tanisha-anderson-case" target="_blank">asked for the case to be dismissed</a>.<br><br>The month after Anderson was killed, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that Cleveland police have a <a href="http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2014/12/04/cleveland_division_of_police_findings_letter.pdf" target="_blank">pattern of using excessive force</a>, including against people who are mentally ill, and that they don’t use appropriate techniques to account for mental illness.<br><br>Mauvion Green, Anderson’s daughter, told Northeast Ohio Media Group last year that she wants to work for <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/11/daughter_of_mentally_ill_cleve.html" target="_blank">conscientious treatment of people with mental illnesses</a>. "I'm fighting for my mother, but I'm fighting for everyone else, too," Green said.

Family Photo