COLUMBUS – On the day that over 500 mourners packed a Houston church for the funeral of George Floyd, Gov. Mike DeWine addressed calls for defunding police departments with a single word.
“I think that would be absurd,” he said.
Floyd’s death while being pinned to the pavement by a white Minneapolis police officer who put a knee on his neck sparked more than a week of protests and a global reckoning over police brutality and racial prejudice.
DeWine announced Tuesday the first of several efforts to improve community-police relations in Ohio.
Statehouse Democrats, meanwhile, unveiled a package of legislation addressing police reforms.
➡ 79% of Ohio’s law enforcement officers work for an agency that is certified – or is in the process of becoming certified – in Ohio’s use-of-force & hiring/recruitment standards. However, the total number of certified agencies is only around ½ of all of Ohio’s departments.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) June 9, 2020
DeWine says he has directed Ohio’s Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board to begin developing uniform minimum standards related to mass protests after police in Columbus and other Ohio cities were accused of overreacting to Floyd protests.
The board was formed in 2015 to create uniform minimum standards for Ohio’s law enforcement agencies covering use of force, including deadly force, and hiring and recruitment.
Currently, DeWine says three-fourths of Ohioans live in communities served by agencies that have voluntarily complied with the board’s standards or is in the process of certification, though the total number of certified agencies only accounts for slightly over half of all of Ohio’s police and sheriff’s departments.
“This is not the end. This is just the beginning of our focus on this,” DeWine said.
DeWine also announced that he will create a new Ohio Office of Law Enforcement Recruitment within Ohio’s Office of Criminal Justice Services to encourage minorities and women to join the state’s law enforcement agencies and vowed to work with lawmakers and Ohio’s mayors to accomplish reform.
Ohio House Democrats, proposed bills would prohibit profiling, tear gas, and the use of quotas by all law enforcement agencies.
“These legislative proposals contain necessary reform to address the institutional racism in our society and the trauma it continues to cause in our communities. We must acknowledge that black Americans continue to face brutality, fear and injustice every day,” Rep. Mary Lightbody (D-Westerville) said.
The legislation also calls for the independent investigation of officer-involved shootings and the creation of databases to better track problematic behavior and employment history of law enforcement officers.
“We understand that there are many cultural, social, and legislative changes that need to happen for us to make meaningful steps towards eradicating racism. Reforming how we police our neighborhoods is one of the most important steps we can take, and it needs to happen now,” said Rep. Kristin Boggs (D-Columbus).
One of the bills would prohibit Ohio police departments from taking part in a federal program that allows police departments to acquire excess and surplus military weapons and equipment at no cost or at a significant discount, a program critics say has created “militarized” police forces.