Marcus Jones began his new role as city manager of Norfolk, Va., by questioning the way Police Chief Bruce Marquis handled of the death of a recruit during defensive tactics training, reports WAVY-TV.
There have been public calls for the firing of Marquis and one council member said publicly he has lost faith in the chief. John Kohn, 40, died after the fourth day of defensive tactics training on Dec. 9.
"I have a lot of questions about the chief," said Jones, who started Tuesday. At the City Council meeting later that evening, the council members announced they would form a panel to investigate the training academy and evaluate safety measures.
Reading a prepared statement to the City Council on Tuesday, Marquis said, "I can do better as the Chief of Police," and apologized for his "failure to communicate thorough information" during the investigation of Kohn's death.
(VIDEO) View the clip of Kohn's training via WAVY-TV:
The chief initially said Kohn died in the hospital after an accidental collision in a doorway with another recruit. Then videos surfaced showing Kohn doing ground fighting training 11 minutes after the collision. The video showed Kohn on his back, taking blows to the head from an instructor who was wearing boxing gloves.
Also, additional details about Kohn's death have come to light in recent days, including the fact that he received multiple blows to the head during training.
The Virginia-Pilot has published a detailed timeline of the events leading up to Kohn's death.
Read the full report at WAVY.com.
