Report: FBI probing use of force on inmate

The FBI CLEVELAND — launched a criminal investigation into the use of force by a corrections officer on an inmate at the Cuyahoga County Jail, according to an un-redacted copy of a report by the U.S. Marshals Service obtained by cleveland.com.

The officer is suspected of using illegal force against the inmate as punishment, the report says.

Cuyahoga County officials handed out redacted copies of the report to reporters Wednesday, saying the redactions were for security and infrastructure concerns. One of the sections redacted by the county mentions the FBI investigation and had nothing to do with security or infrastructure.

The marshals report does not address the specifics of the incident. George Taylor, the county’s interim jail director, acknowledged a criminal investigation into a use-of-force incident in a meeting with cleveland. com reporters and editors but did not say it was under FBI investigation.

A public records request was made with the county for information regarding the incident. A county spokesperson said she would provide that information later Wednesday.

The U.S. Marshals Service found several other issues with corrections officers’ use of force, including that they do not use de-escalation techniques, that they don’t investigate all uses of force, do not take videos of the incidents into evidence and don’t require written reports from the officers, inmates, witnesses or medical staff involved.

The FBI has also asked questions about possible civil rights violations at the jail, cleveland.com has previously reported.