COLUMBUS – A state task force studying police procedures says officers should only use deadly force when they are defending themselves or others from serious injury or death.
The panel, appointed by Gov. John Kasich in the wake of deadly shootings of unarmed men and a child in Ohio and other states, believes an officer must fire his gun only to take down a suspect when he or she has “reasonable belief deadly force is necessary to protect life,” reads a draft of the first-ever proposed statewide standard on police use of deadly force.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
Ohio is closer to setting the new statewide standards for police agencies on use of force after the advisory panel’s meeting on Tuesday.
Drafts of standards, including the recruitment and hiring of officers, were discussed at a meeting of the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, which was formed to improve policing and build public trust.
Ohio law enforcement agencies would have to adopt the standard as a minimum department policy and must have a policy for training officers in the standard and disciplining them when violations occur.
More than 100 Ohio police agencies, and likely many more, already have standards that meet or exceed those to be enacted by the state, but smaller- and medium-size agencies may not, officials say. Many of the controversial shootings in recent months across the country have come from smaller agencies.
“We’re raising the bar in Ohio,” said Department of Public Safety Director John Born, a co-chairman of the advisory group. He says the deadly force standards are consistent with national and international policies on force.
Ohio Fraternal Order of Police President Jay McDonald said he has no quibbles with the use-of-force proposals.
The governor created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board after a series of fatal police shootings, including the November death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland.
The board unveiled the draft standards ahead of a September deadline.