DeWine - Yost Announce Law Enforcement Reforms
Governor and Attorney General Announce Reforms to Law Enforcement
In response to the death of George Floyd, and the resulting protests that have shined a light on problems that need to be addressed, Governor DeWine in conjunction with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, announced numerous recommendations and action-items for a “meaningful” law enforcement reform plan.
“The ultimate goal… is to rebuild public trust by improving law enforcement accountability, training, and transparency,” said Governor DeWine. Attorney General Yost added that racism isn’t a law enforcement issue but a societal issue, stating that most officers are good people, but it’s those bad officers who are making the job harder for good ones.
The recommendations, many of which require an act of the General Assembly to implement, include:
Requiring police officer candidates to take a psychological test to prove they are fit to become a police officer.
Finding a permanent funding stream to train officers on de-escalation, use-of-force, and implicit bias. (Note: the Governor announced the immediate funding of six total hours of de-escalation training, use-of-force training, and implicit bias training in 2020 for any Ohio officer who has not yet received training on these critical topics this year).
Creating a standard definition of use of force and mandating that all agencies report uses of force data to the state, as the state does not currently track this information. The Governor also directed the Office of Criminal Justice Services to begin developing a database where use of force data will be made public.
Banning chokeholds unless it is determined the officer's life is in danger or to protect another individual's life.
Mandating independent investigations and prosecutions for all officer-involved shootings and all in-custody deaths. Specific to the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP), the Governor already instructed the agency to refer all officer-involved shootings and deaths that occur in the custody of troopers to be investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
Equipping every police officer with a body camera. The Governor requested that the legislature assist with finding funding to assist local agencies. In the meantime, the Governor will begin outfitting all OSHP troopers with body cameras.
Requiring licensure for all officers, rather than just peace officer certificates. In addition, establish and implement an oversight and accountability board that creates standards and ethics, and has the ability to enforce suspensions and revocations of peace officer licenses.