Cuyahoga County faces mounting calls for policy change after a significant delay in releasing body camera footage of a deputy-involved shooting. Nearly four months passed before the county made the video public, sparking controversy and questions about transparency in law enforcement. The release came just hours before a joint investigation, which examined the delay and its implications.
The footage shows Deputy Isen Vajusi firing multiple shots last October, only seven seconds after he and a partner witnessed a car crash during a pursuit. “Hey, stop, stop (shots), he’s got a gun. Stop, get on the ground. Radio, shots fired, shots fired. Male was reaching. I swear it wasn’t me,” the deputy is heard saying. However, the video does not clarify what prompted the shooting. A 15-year-old boy was struck in the thigh, and his mother claims he was running away when the deputy opened fire.
In the footage, the deputy asserts he believed the teenager was armed, a claim later confirmed when a gun was recovered, though the exact location remains unclear. According to records, the boy and two other teenagers were suspected to be involved in a carjacking earlier that day.
Experts in policing have weighed in on the incident. A former officer and Resident Scholar at the Center for Ethnographic Studies of Public Safety, Kalfani Ture asserts, “if an officer is shooting someone who is fleeting they run the risk of being charged themselves with an excessive use of force. And in this case, deadly force.” As a former police officer himself, Ture called the actions in the video an uninformed split-second decision. Ture explained, “How do you use your firearm in seconds of exiting your patrol car without evaluating?”
On the other hand, national policing expert Tim Dimoff argued that seven to ten seconds is enough time for an officer to assess a threat and respond appropriately. “If the officer truly thought he saw or did see a firearm on the subject or the subject reaching in and pulling out a firearm or what he thought to be a firearm then the officer is fully justified.” Dimoff directs attention to the movement in the United States to quickly reveal footage such as this. “The bottom line: the public has the right to see what the officer saw and to more objectively make a determination,” he explains.
Cleveland already implemented a policy in 2022 mandating the release of body and dash cam footage within seven days in cases of deadly force. Ture believes Cuyahoga County should adopt similar practices. “The two deputy sheriffs were operating in the interest and at the will of the local police department,” Ture states.
After ongoing pressure from the community, the county has committed to reconsidering its policy regarding the release of video footage from deputy shootings. County Councilman Martin J. Sweeney stressed the importance of transparency, “absolutely not only you, but the general public needs to see it.”
Sweeney is now focused on determining whether the change will come in the form of an ordinance or a policy set by Sheriff Pretel. “If you talk about good government, I think this is a slam dunk, because why not? Think about it, it just makes it more difficult to deal with the situation that is very troubling,” Sweeney added.
In the wake of the shooting, both deputies involved requested stress leave. As of December, the county confirmed that neither deputy had faced disciplinary action. As it stands, the incident is still under investigation by Cleveland police, though both officers have since returned to work.
The county has stated that it is in the process of refining procedures and establishing standardized protocols for the timely release of information regarding such incidents.