CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland police pull their guns too fast, fire at fleeing cars and people who pose no immediate threat and ignore potential danger to bystanders, the U. S. Department of Justice found.

A biting 58-page report released Thursday concluded that police violated the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, including by shooting an underwear-clad hostage victim and an unarmed driver who made an illegal turn.

The report blames several reasons for the "unreasonable" shootings. Police often lack the training and confidence necessary to control a situation without resorting to force. They are not required to tell their supervisors when they pull their weapons. And the prevailing police culture promotes an "us-against-them" mentality.

"They too often fire their weapons in a manner and in circumstances that place innocent bystanders in danger; and accidentally fire them, sometimes fortuitously hitting nothing and other times shooting people and seriously injuring them," the report says.

The Justice Department examined nearly 600 use-of-force incidents from 2010-13 and did hundreds of interviews for the report, released less than two weeks after Cleveland police shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was waving an airsoft pellet gun outside Cudell Recreation Center.

Training shortfalls are a consistent issue in the report. Officers also push situations to an unnecessarily dangerous level, "either because they do not know how, or because they do not have an adequate understanding of the importance of de-escalating encounters before resorting to force whenever possible."

According to Charles Drago, former Fort Lauderdale police chief and expert witness in excessive use of force, that's a widespread problem.

"The most common type [of incident where excessive force is used] that I see many, many times, and this is a very big bone of contention, is when officers put themselves in difficult or dangerous situations where they have no option but to use force," Drago said. "Police way too often shoot drivers of cars then say, 'Well he was trying to run me over.'

"If he hadn't jumped in front of a car, he wouldn't be able to run him over."

The report cites several examples of an "exhaustive list" of incidents where officers inappropriately used their guns.

Police shoot man lowering hands to be cuffed

Police approached Randell Scott Jr. as he was walking with an open container of beer. When they asked him to stop, Scott walked to a nearby porch and set down his drink. According to police, he "turned towards the officers in a manner that indicated he was going to speak with them."

An officer said he saw a gun in the man's waistband, yelled "gun" and pointed his weapon at Scott. The second officer said Scott raised his hands and informed officers he had a concealed carry license, as required by Ohio law.

The second officer moved behind Scott to cuff him, and as he was lowering his hands, the first officer shot him in the abdomen.

"Officers fire their guns in circumstances where the use of deadly force is not justified, including against unarmed or fleeing suspects who do not pose a threat of serious harm to officers or others," the report says.

137 shots fired in shooting with more than 100 officers, two unarmed suspects



More than 100 officers engaged in a high-speed chase in East Cleveland in 2012 that resulted in 137 shots being fired at two unarmed suspects, Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell, in a car. The chase ended in a parking lot where officers claimed the suspects were ramming them with their vehicles.

Officers believed the suspects were shooting at them, when the bullets were actually coming from their fellow officers.

Unarmed man shot in chest after illegal right turn

In another incident, an officer pulled a man over who made an illegal right turn, Gregory Love. The officer approached the man's vehicle with his gun drawn, because he said he felt "uneasy," since he could not see the suspect's hands.

The officer said the suspect did not follow his command to turn off his vehicle, so he reached inside of the car with the hand that was not holding the gun. The officer claims he felt a force on his hand, like the suspect was trying to grab his weapon, and it discharged, shooting the unarmed suspect in the chest.

The incident also reveals glaring contradictions to Cleveland Division of Police's use-of-force policy, which prohibits officers from reaching into vehicles under any circumstance.

Police fire 24 rounds, hit nearby houses and vehicles, suicidal man

Cleveland police often draw, point and fire their weapons without considering their surroundings or the direction of the bullets.

In 2011, officers fired 24 rounds in a residential neighborhood, striking nearby houses and vehicles. Nine officers responded to a scene where a suspect was standing on a porch, waving a gun and holding it to his head.

Officers followed the man down the street with their guns drawn, as the suspect yelled at them to shoot him. The suspect refused to drop his gun and then pointed it at officers. Five officers fired a total of 24 rounds; three of the five officers fired more than six rounds each.

By the time the shooting stopped, six rounds had struck nearby residences; eleven hit a pickup truck along a curb; two more struck another nearby truck; and one hit the passenger side of a car parked along the curb.

Fleeing driver shot

Police also have a habit of shooting at fleeing suspects and vehicles, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled is unconstitutional when "the suspect does not pose a threat of serious bodily harm to the officer or others."

In 2010, an officer ordered a driver, Germaine Ware, to turn off his vehicle, but he sped off instead, brushing the officer with his vehicle. The officer shot Ware as he was driving away, hitting him in the shoulder.

The initial threat had ended once the driver fled, according to the report, which cites a Supreme Court opinion that states: "It is not better that all felony suspects die than that they escape."

Officer fires at underwear-clad hostage running toward police

A man who was being held hostage by armed assailants fled the house wearing only boxer shorts. As he was running toward police, they ordered him to stop. When he didn't, a sergeant fired two shots at him.

The sergeant said he thought the man had a weapon because he raised his arm and pointed his hand toward him.

"The sergeant's use of deadly force was unreasonable," the report says. "It is only by fortune that he did not kill the crime victim in this incident."