Ohio to develop state-wide standards for police use of deadly force

Ohio to develop state-wide standards for police use of deadly force

Published 4 May 2015

Ohio governor John Kasich has created a 12-member group of community and law enforcement leaders to help draft statewide standards on how police departments should use deadly force. The move comes in the wake of a series of police shootings involving black males.Most police departments in Ohio already have their own policies for deadly force, and some claim a statewide standard might not be an effective solution. Kasich said he would use his powers to pressure police departments in the state to follow the standards recommended by the group.

Ohio governor John Kasich has created a 12-member group of community and law enforcement leaders to help draft statewide standards on how police departments should use deadly force. The move comes in the wake of a series of police shootings involving black males.
Twenty-two year-old John Crawford III of Fairfield was killed by a police officer on 5 August while holding an air rifle in a Dayton-area Walmart. On 9 August, a Ferguson, Missouri police officer shot unarmed eighteen-year-old Michael Brown. In November, twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by police while holding a pellet gun outside a Cleveland recreation center.
Most police departments in Ohio already have their own policies for deadly force, and some claim a statewide standard might not be an effective solution. What might work for one agency might not work for another. “We’ve got rural areas, and we’ve got urban areas,” said Mike Weinman, director of government affairs for the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio.