Detective Steve Loomis has been ousted as president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association.
According to sources, Loomis lost his position as president by a margin of fewer than 40 votes to Jeff Follmer, a former CPPA president himself.
Loomis, who has been unabashedly supportive of officers even in the face of controversy, came under fire for statements he made after Tamir Rice's shooting death.
When the Rice family was awarded a $6 million settlement, Loomis issued a statement saying the family should use the money to educate children about the dangers of handling real and replica firearms.
Jeff Follmer is no stranger to the media spotlight either.
Following the 2012 chase where 137 shots were fired and two unarmed civilians were killed, he called for the resignation of Police Chief Michael McGrath, citing lack of confidence in the police chief and department morale at an all-time low.
Follmer went as far as calling it a "perfect chase" and said the officers should be commended for their actions.
Loomis argued that the suspects, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, drove their car into a crowd of police, leading them to believe they were under fire.
Loomis went on to say the fallout of the chase has restricted Cleveland police from doing their jobs as they can rarely chase suspects anymore.
Attorney General Mike DeWine called the events of that day a systematic failure.
Originally six officers involved in that incident were fired. Since then five have been reinstated and have returned to duty. The sixth, Michael Brelo, was the only officer to permanently lose his job over the events that led to the death of Russell and Williams.
Last year Loomis was suspended for six days after he was involved in a physical altercation with a fellow officer. He later released a statement saying the altercation was an off-duty family matter.
According to the CPPA, Follmer will take over as president early next year.
Loomis released the following statement Tuesday afternoon:
The silver lining in this election is that I will now have time to focus on my family and my health. I wish all those elected the best going forward and expect them to continue the work and success this union has been committed to. I will continue to devote my career to championing our profession and our law-abiding citizens in any way I can. I am proud of my service to both union and city and will sleep very well knowing I will be leaving them in better shape than I found them in.
