Pledging that "we are going to heal our communities," Gov. John Kasich created an advisory board on Wednesday to develop first-ever standards for law-enforcement agencies statewide as a step toward "bridging the gap" between officers and those they serve.
Kasich wants better-trained, high-quality police officers on Ohio's streets and a statewide standard specifying the situations in which officers are empowered to use deadly force.
He issued an executive order creating the advisory panel Wednesday after accepting recommendations from his Ohio Task Force on Community-Police Relations after four months of hearings and study.
"The governor of this state is not going to look the other way," Kasich said. "It is not acceptable to have these divisions between our friends in the African-American community and law enforcement."
Set against the backdrop of Ferguson, Mo., and fatal shootings of a black youth and black man by white police officers in Ohio, Kasich created the task force last December in a bid to ease distrust and avert rioting and violence seen in other states.
"We will create the first statewide standards on a number of these things," Kasich said. "We don't want people in the streets, burning buildings and hating one another. We have to do this. It has to work."
Ohio has minimum standards for police officers but none for police agencies. The 12-member advisory board is being asked to come up with standards on the use of deadly force and officer recruiting and hiring within 90 days.
"If someone is running from a law-enforcement officer, their life is not at risk nor probably is anyone else's," Kasich said. "These standards don't exist in some law-enforcement operations in this state. So, making it clear what the use of force is will be very helpful in guiding an officer."
Many large police forces have sufficient standards, but some smaller ones do not, law-enforcement leaders say. Seventy percent of Ohio's police forces consist of 20 or fewer officers.
Former state Sen. Nina Turner, a Clevelander who is the mother of a police officer and currently No. 2 in the Ohio Democratic Party, noted, "What is happening in Baltimore is certainly the canary in the coal mine for all the nation," referring to the death of a black man while in police custody that prompted rioting.
Turner, who will serve on the advisory board, called the task force's suggestions "a very, very strong foundation ... to restore the faith of the community."
Michael J. Navarre, police chief in the Toledo suburb of Oregon, said the recommendations submitted yesterday perhaps "should have been implemented 30 years ago."
If some small police departments can't comply with new state standards, perhaps they should think about merging with another force or disbanding and turning over law enforcement duties to their local sheriff's office, Navarre said.
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor has agreed to review how the judicial process plays out in cases involving police use of force, Kasich said. Some task force members suggest grand juries be overseen by a judge and release testimony to the public to allow it to examine the evidence.
"We don't want to turn anybody into the bad guy here. ... The community needs to trust law enforcement and law enforcement needs to understand the community," Kasich said.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien, a member of the task force, agreed. "You really have to get to the 'us versus them' culture and make people understand," he said.
The governor said he briefed House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, and Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, on the coming changes and told them more money will be needed to pay for reforms, including expanded training. "We're going to take care of it; we're going to pay for it," Kasich said.
Kasich said he believes he can enact most changes with executive orders, but others -- such as suggestions to bar police from using racial profiling and providing funding for body cameras -- must be approved by the General Assembly.
Last week, a separate panel appointed by Attorney General Mike DeWine concluded that both basic and ongoing police training should be dramatically improved and expanded, which members acknowledged would be expensive.
Statewide, fatal police shootings fell from a recent high of 33 in 2011 to 22 in 2013, according to state figures. The 2014 number is not yet available.
(c)2015 The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio)
