![Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and Sheriff Christopher Viland pictured here shortly after Viland's confirmation by county council. During hearings on his nomination, Viland said his first task as sheriff would be a review of the department's policies. [Office of the Cuyahoga County Executive]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/41ec399/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1687+0+0/resize/840x472!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F3%2F26%2Fviland_confirmation2.jpg)
Cuyahoga County Sheriff Christopher Viland banned officers from working off-duty at any establishments serving alcohol after the shooting death of an off-duty corrections officer in Parma March 13.
Less than a week later, on March 19, the order was quietly lifted.
“Effective immediately, the temporary suspension of outside and off-duty employment at liquor establishments is hereby rescinded,” the sheriff wrote in an e-mail to employees. “All employees of the CCSD are required to adhere to the currently established policy and practices of the Cuyahoga County Inspector General and the CCSD.”
Viland initially said the suspension would last until the department adopts new policies on secondary employment. Instead, while those policies are being written, deputies and officers have to call in to radio dispatch before and after any off-duty work shift.
The sheriff’s department has no written policies governing secondary employment, unlike Cleveland Division of Police, which has rules limiting where officers can work, how many total hours on- and off-duty can be worked in a 24-hour period and requiring they wear their police uniforms while working as security.
The suspension of work at bars, nightclubs and any business with alcohol for all sheriff’s department employments was announced March 13, the same day Cuyahoga County Corrections Officer Timoteo Cruz was killed while working at a sports bar in Parma.
According to the Parma Police Department, two Cleveland men – Juan Carlos Perez, 27, and his brother, Luis Carlos Candelario, 30 – were told to leave the bar and then killed Parma resident Sean Michael Acierno in the parking lot after a brief encounter. Cruz exchanged gunfire with one of the suspects and was killed.
“Due to Cruz’s heroic actions, he most likely saved additional lives, while giving up his own life as other bar patrons were still in the area or exiting the bar,” Parma Police Lt. Daniel Ciryak said in a statement.
Candelario and Perez are charged with two counts of aggravated murder and accessory to aggravated murder.
