john kasich nina turner task force
Gov. John Kasich, seen here with former state Sen. Nina Turner, in December announced a new task force to find ways Ohio communities can build better relationships with their police departments. That task force, co-chaired by Turner and Ohio Department of Public Safety Director John Born, is to report back to the governor by April 30.
(Robert Higgs, Northeast Ohio Media Group)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A task force charged with improving relations between police agencies and the communities they serve will offer Gov. John Kasich a series of specific recommendations aimed ensuring strong police training, proper oversight of officers' actions and measures that will bolster trust from the community and recognize police excellence.
The Ohio Task Force on Community-Police Relations, announced by Kasich in December, is still working up specific wording for its recommendations for state action. Those recommendations, though, will center on eight to 10 concepts meant to strengthen police work and build stronger ties between the officers and those they serve and protect.
Among those subjects are community involvement and education, officer training, clear standards for police procedures, accountability and oversight, the hiring and retention of good officers and the judicial process itself.
Those were developed, in part, from feedback gathered in community forums around the state.
Ohio Department of Public Safety Director John Born, one of two task force co-chairs, said Thursday at a task force meeting that the report must provide some specific guidance for the public and for police -- not just broad platitudes.
"If we walk away with no action, I think it is counter productive to the public forums," he said.
Former state Sen. Nina Turner, the other co-chair, said it will be up to the governor to develop policy that implements the recommendations.
"We're not going to be able to solve all the world's problems in four months," she said. But despite the short time the task force has had to develop its report, it must provide strong guidance, she said.
Among the recommendations the task force is considering:
- A greater emphasis on training that focuses not just on policing procedures, but also diversity, interpersonal relationships and the issue of race and biases. Training would also focus on de-escalation techniques and alternatives to deadly force, as well as interactions with the mentally ill and others with disabilities. Offices also would learn techniques for personal stress management and stress reduction.
- A thorough investigation of the use of body cameras that looks both at how they could bolster transparency and the challenges they present, such as privacy, storage capacity and maintenance of records.
- Creation of oversight systems for local departments that reward excellent service by officers and also identify officer misbehavior and provide for independent review of police actions.
- Active engagement between the community and their local police, including the use of neighborhood policing, encouraging officers to live within their jurisdictions and maintaining open dialogues through roundtable discussions and community events.
- Educating the public about police officers' duties and the nature of their jobs. Suggestions include use of videos of officer stops, allowing the public to participate in ride-alongs and exercises and programs that lead to interaction with youth.
- Bolstering recruitment of qualified officers. Efforts might include use of scholarships and internships to bolster minority interest from within the communities.
- Enacting anti-profiling legislation at the state level.
- Encouraging the Supreme Court to review the judicial process to ensure fairness to both parties in officer-involved deaths. Speakers at public forums raised concerns about the secrecy of the grand jury process and a perception of bias because prosecutors work closely with police. The panel is considering ways to bolster transparency including, perhaps, judicial oversight of the process.
Kasich's executive order creating the task force directed it to report to him by April 30.
The governor announced he was creating the task force after he was approached by Turner and Sen. Sandra Williams, both of Cleveland, and Rep. Alicia Reece of Cincinnati. They sought action in response to cases involving the use of lethal force by police. Those cases included two in Ohio: the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by Cleveland police at a city park and the shooting of John Crawford III at a Walmart in Beavercreek.
The announcement came one day after the U.S. Department of Justice reported Cleveland police are too quick to use deadly force and identified a pattern of using excessive force in violation of citizens' Constitutional rights.
Kasich said then that the task force should not be viewed as an indictment of law enforcement. But he said frustration in communities can't be ignored.
"If there are people who feel that they are being shut out, you have to listen to them," Kasich said then. "When people say 'I don't feel that the system is working for me,' if it's in large enough numbers, you'd better pay attention to it."
During discussions Thursday it was clear that the panel is trying to strike a balance between making specific recommendations that lead to specific standards for police work while not forcing a "one-size-fits-all" approach.
Two members of the task force, Sheriff Vernon Stanforth of Fayette County and former Toledo Police Chief Michael Navarre, both cautioned that mandated procedures would not necessarily fit well with all departments because they vary greatly in size and expertise and their communities and community needs are also varied. What works for a large city like Cincinnati might not work at all for a smaller community like Kirtland.
They urged recommendations that focused on getting departments to follow best practice guidelines that would allow them to tailor policies to their needs.
Ohio Fraternal Order of Police President Jay McDonald, who was in the audience Thursday, offered similar caution, nothing that "70 percent of the police departments in Ohio have fewer than 20 officers."