Williams must go.
Just so everyone is clear, Calvin Williams lied. (The Scene article is excellent.)
I have three things to say about this.
0. I called it, exactly a month ago.
This wasn’t complicated at all. When dozens of videos of the same event consistently don’t show the thing that the Chief of Police says happened, it shouldn’t take a month to figure out that he’s lying. Also, cops lie.
1. This is breaking the Consent Decree.
People need to be aware that Williams deliberately circumvented and undermined the Use of Force provisions in the consent decree by making up justification for a Level 2 (possibly 3) Use of Force.
2. Newly developed policy brings a “presumption of termination.”
Under the updated Discipline Matrix that’s recommended by the Community Police Commission, that in itself would be a Group IV violation: “the most egregious and heinous misconduct” that “carries with it a presumption of termination” which specifically includes “False Report, False Statement, Untruthfulness, [or] Dishonesty.”
https://clecpc.org/wp-content/uploads/CPC-Recommendations-Disciplinary-Matrix-GPO-6-30-2020.pdf
That revised Discipline Matrix isn’t currently in effect but the logic behind it is airtight. Williams must go.