COLUMBUS — In the wake of police shootings here and elsewhere, a state panel today adopted Ohio’s first statewide broad policies on when police may employ force, deadly and otherwise.
Police should use deadly force only when defending themselves, defending others, or when following court precedent allowing such action to stop a fleeing felon who is considered a threat, one policy states.
The polices are general, roughly three or four paragraphs each, and are designed to serve as the statewide minimum for local and state police agencies.
“Most (police departments) already have this, but there are some out there that don’t, and they need this,” said Oregon Police Chief Mike Navarre, Toledo’s former chief and a member of the Ohio Collaborative Community Police Advisory Board.
“What we are going to publish is going to be consistent with what is considered to be best practice,” he said. “It’s going to consistent with what the law requires, specifically the Fourth Amendment to the Bill of Rights and the two most relevant Supreme Court decisions.”
Gov. John Kasich created a task force in April in the wake of fatal shootings by police of a 12-year-old boy wielding an air gun in a Cleveland park and a black man holding an air rifle while shopping in a Beavercreek Walmart.
Both resulted in protests but did not lead to the type of violence and looting that occurred on the streets of Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore after the police-related deaths of black men there.
After a series of public hearings across the state, the task force recommended creation of this permanent board.
Consisting of representatives of police officers, sheriffs, prosecutors, the faith community, academia, state government, and civil rights community, the board also reached consensus on the use of general force and guidance for police force hiring, training, and diversity.
Consensus was reached despite caution from former state Sen. Nina Turner, a Cleveland Democrat, and Ronnie Dunn, a Cleveland State University associate professor, both African Americans, that the final result had to respond to their communities back home and not just the worries of law enforcement.
Mr. Dunn said he’s confident that the final result is something the public back home can support.
“We had to be aware that it can’t all be just reinforcing what already exists or maintaining the status quo,” Mr. Dunn said. “As we know, with this current crisis, that’s what’s giving rise to the situation that we’re currently in …
“Only time will tell, but we’re laying the foundation, trying to establish the parameters and not to handcuff law enforcement and put them in a precarious predicament or situation either,” he said.
To at least partly address his concerns, the board added an introductory sentence to its deadly force policy that states up front, “The preservation of human life is of the highest value in the state of Ohio.”
When it comes to using general force, police action must be based on the actions and behavior of the resisting person, be considered reasonable, and be balanced against the risk of injury to that person, the officer, and others.
The third policy also states that it is the goal of police departments to hire a qualified and diverse work force.
First Published August 28, 2015, 6:24 p.m.
