COLUMBUS – Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein says a thorough review will be conducted to evaluate the city’s preparedness, communication and response to a series of downtown protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Klein, Mayor Andrew Ginther, city council president Shannon Hardin and Police Chief Thomas Quinlan announced Wednesday that the independent after-action review would be conducted by Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs and led by former United States attorney Carter Stewart with
“City officials have the responsibility to recognize, assess and improve areas where we fell short in our response to the recent protests. And, equally so, we need to identify and build upon what we got right,” Klein said.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that the review will be similar to those conducted in cities like Charlottesville, Virginia, following the death a counterprotester in 2017.
Klein says the $250,000 review will be funded mostly by the police division’s drug seizure account.
Klein says the process will allow businesses, protesters, and police to see an independent and objective report so the city can move forward post-protest.
The research will examine the city’s response to sometimes violent and destructive protests from late-May to mid-July, including one where Hardin, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce were pepper-sprayed by officers.
The researchers will examine how protestors’ rights were balanced with public safety concerns the city’s preparedness for the protests, the city’s preparedness, police preparedness and tactics and internal communications and community relations.
The group said the goal will be to have a report on the analysis, along with recommendations for change, by the end of the year, when Ginther has vowed to have the framework for a civilian police review board in place.