COLUMBUS – Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs has agreed with earlier assessments by her subordinates that officers did not overreact when they used pepper spray and tear gas on University District revelers after the Buckeyes’ national-championship football win in January.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
With two handwritten sentences, Jacobs brought an end to the inquiry into whether city police officers acted responsibly and professionally to control the throng of fans who flooded the streets near campus after Ohio State University’s victory over Oregon on Jan. 12.
Jacobs’ comments, dated on Wednesday, came five months after Deputy Chief Thomas Quinlan’s extensive review of the events was forwarded to her office.
“I concur with D/C Quinlan’s findings,” Jacobs wrote. “The Division’s response to the dangerous crowd behavior was limited to a low-level use of force and was reasonable.”
Sgt. Rich Weiner, a Police Division spokesman, said the chief’s decision concludes the internal review. He said nothing should be read into the length of time between Quinlan’s March report and the chief formally closing the investigation this week.
“Any delay was simply administrative,” he said.
Quinlan’s report had summed up the observations and recommendations of others in the division in their “after action” reports, which are required whenever an officer uses force, including pepper spray or tear gas.
Officers used both to disperse crowds in the early hours of Jan. 13, saying that the thousands of fans celebrating the win were putting themselves and others at risk by setting more than 80 fires, blocking emergency vehicles, and pelting officers with ice balls and beer bottles.