Sgt. Aaron Hanson, a former president of Omaha’s police union, used excessive force when he kneed an already-handcuffed Omaha man, the Omaha Police Department’s Safety Review Board unanimously decided in 2018. The board recommended a low-level punishment.
But that punishment never happened. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer overruled the safety review board, a move that Schmaderer has made only twice in recent years, say Greg Gonzalez and George Merithew, both members of the review board at the time.