COLUMBUS – Columbus police Chief Thomas Quinlan says officers will operate under a new set of rules during anticipated protests this weekend in the wake of the fatal shooting of a Black man by a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy a week ago.
The changes followed an emergency meeting with an advisory committee formed by Mayor Andrew Ginther after police were criticized for their handling of violent protests this summer in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
During those protests, pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets and other tactics were deployed to disperse crowds, leading to complaints that police officers whose badges and nameplates were not visible overreacted and initiated some of the confrontations.
Demonstrations were planned downtown to protest the killing of Casey Goodson Jr. by a deputy working with fugitive apprehension task force on the North Side last Friday.
The incident is under investigation by local and federal agencies.
“The men and women of the Division of Police will be here to protect your First Amendment rights. You have my personal commitment that we are here to facilitate a safe, peaceful opportunity for all voices to be heard,” Quinlan wrote in a statement issued Friday.
Officers are instructed not to use pepper spray on “non-violent or non-aggressive” protesters or to clear streets of peaceful demonstrators, and no one will be arrested for non-violent misdemeanors, according to the committee’s guidelines.
Quinlan vowed that officers would wear body cameras to document all interactions and the badge numbers of uniformed officers would be visible.
“The Chief and Panel agree that it is imperative to ensure the safety of all of those who wish to exercise their First Amendment right through peaceful protests in the coming days, weeks, and months. As we have clearly communicated to Chief Quinlan, our city must be allowed to peacefully protest. The police response to the upcoming protests must be different from the response we all saw earlier in 2020.” -advisory committee statement
Quinlan and the commiittee encourage anyone who experiences any action by an officer they believe to be “excessive or improper” to email the information, including photos and videos to ReportCPD@Columbus.gov or contact the Internal Affairs Bureau at 614-645-4880 or IABDeskSgt@columbuspolice.org.
Witnesses are encouraged to use cell phones to capture incidents they believe should be investigated.