The UF police department has completed and released its internal investigation report regarding the actions of the Critical Incident Response Team on March 2, when officers shot a Ghanaian graduate student in then face.
The findings, which were released Wednesday afternoon, state that the CIRT was used inappropriately. As a result, commanding officer Lt. Stacy Ettel, after 17 years of service, will be relieved of duty, said UPD Chief Linda Stump.
"I think this goes back to the severity of the situation," Stump said. "This is one of the most critical incidents this department has ever been involved in, and you have to acknowledge that."
According to Stump, there were three major flaws in procedure that night. First, she said, the University Police CIRT never should have responded. Instead, a SWAT team should have been called in, she said.
"The design of CIRT is to respond to active shooters," she said. "It's really not intended nor has it ever been intended to protect an individual from harm."
Secondly, Ettel should have notified chief Stump or a patrol director and informed them of the situation.
Finally, officers should have contacted members of the Critical Intervention Team, who have been trained to deal with those experiencing mental health problems.
Though Stump said she feels CIRT "absolutely" acted inappropriately that night, she sees no reason to terminate the program.
Stump said she hopes the conclusion of the investigation will help students move beyond this incident and rebuild relations and trust with UPD officers.
"I hope you realize we've tried to be as thorough as we can and look at ourselves honestly," she said. "It's always been our intent [to be transparent] ... the trust that maybe we lost through this incident, I hope we may be able to gain."
