The Cleveland Police Department failed to do a complete investigation regarding the assault allegation made against former Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt in February. The Cleveland Police Department is now investigation its handling of the case.
According to TMZ the Cleveland Police Department has launched an internal probe regarding the case.
“Following an internal review, it has been determined that in February 2018 a member of the Cleveland Division of Police provided a copy of the police report involving the February 10, 2018 assault incident at The 9 [hotel] to a representative from the National Football League,” the department said in a statement issued to TMZ. “The report did not go through the official public records request process.”
This statement suggests that someone skirted the regular procedures, and it harmonizes the NFL’s position on the matter with a Tuesday report from the Kansas City Star that an official records request wasn’t submitted by the NFL until Friday, the day that the video of the assault emerged on TMZ. (Some in the media have suggested that the report regarding the absence of an official records request was irresponsible; the new statement from the Cleveland Police Department confirms and validates the report. The NFL indeed didn’t make an official request, but it did somehow get its hands on the paperwork.)
The Cleveland Police Department also said that it is examining the “overall response” to the incident. Though no specifics were provided, it’s possible that the Cleveland Police Department will investigate the decision not to request the video of the incident on the basis that the alleged crime was a misdemeanor not a felony.
A crime is a crime is a crime, and it’s possible that someone decided to try to keep the video permanently out of view by not requesting it from the hotel. That plan became derailed when TMZ got the video, presumably by paying for it.