COLUMBUS – After deadly shootings involving police in Ohio and around the nation, state leaders are working to address the sometimes strained relationship between cops and communities.
The Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board held its first meeting Wednesday to begin creating a state minimum standard for the use of deadly force, and for recruiting and hiring, and a statewide commission on Thursday continues its review of training requirements for law enforcement officers.
Carlton Moore with the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services says he sees it as part of government’s fundamental responsibility to protect its citizens.
“The best way to ensure the safety of both our law enforcement and our citizens is to create a strong bond and trust between the two entities, so they’re really one entity that really serves and works with each other,” he said.
The collaborative is made up of a dozen law enforcement and community members from around Ohio. It was created in December 2014 by executive order, after a series of incidents including the shooting deaths of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland and 22-year-old John Crawford in Beavercreek. Both were black men who were shot by white police officers. Ohio’s
The commission’s work follows recommendations from task forces convened by Governor John Kasich and Attorney General Mike DeWine in the wake of the shootings and similar incidents in Ferguson, Mo., and New York.
The Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission was scheduled to meet Thursday in London, about 30 miles west of Columbus.
Earlier this year the commission voted to require that Ohio officers have high school degrees or their equivalent.
The commission also lifted a cap on the amount of initial training required to become an officer.
The state’s new two-year budget calls for several additional hours of annual advanced training for police officers.