Black Community Leaders Demand DOJ Investigation Into The Columbus Police Department

A gaggle of Black group leaders in Columbus, Ohio, are utilizing their coalition to demand the Division of Justice to open an investigation into the Columbus Division of Police.

The Columbus Police Accountability Coalition penned a letter shutting down the mayor’s request right into a evaluation of the division following the latest deadly capturing of 15-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, Information One experiences. “Mayor Ginther has failed to indicate any significant efforts to reform the CPD, letting cops run rampant with out accountability or regard for human life in anyway,” civil rights lawyer Sean L. Walton stated in an announcement.

The letter cited a report by The Ohio State College John Glenn Faculty of Public Affairs the place Columbus police accounted for half of all use of power experiences between 2001 and 2017. Moreover, Columbus police justified using power in 99% of instances, the research discovered.

Whereas noting the division’s lack of range, accounts of discrimination inside the police division, and hypothesis over their use of taxpayer funds, the coalition additionally addressed the dissolution of some of the division’s police squads. The division’s vice squad was dismantled in 2019 resulting from problems with deadly use of power, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. Their plainclothes Summer time Strike Pressure was additionally dissolved for points associated to deadly use of power.

The Black-led collective of authorized, religion, group, and motion leaders is demanding the DOJ examine the division’s lengthy historical past of violence and misconduct towards Black folks, WCBE experiences.

“We’ve had numerous opinions and numerous experiences,” Walton stated. “We demand an investigation. The one cooperation we anticipate from the mayor’s workplace is to step again and let the DOJ examine each facet of the Columbus Division of Police.”

Columbus Metropolis Council President Shannon Hardin applauded the coalition and inspired them to proceed ahead with their investigation request.

“We all know that for years, many in our group have been asking for this and demanding this,” Hardin stated. “It’s excessive time that metropolis leaders hear, together with myself.”

The coalition is ready to host a sequence of public occasions in Could to unfold the phrase on their motion and collect extra testimony to additional show the necessity for a federal investigation.