Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther speaks at a press conference after the police killing of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus April 20. Credit: Max Garrison | Asst. Campus Editor
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and City Attorney Zach Klein have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to review Columbus Police and issue recommendations for how it can eliminate racial bias in its policies and practices, according to a letter addressed to the Department of Justice Tuesday.
The letter asks the DOJ to evaluate Columbus Police’s current reform efforts; assess racial disparities and biases in areas including hiring, training and use of force; and to issue findings that “provide an environment that fosters trust” between Columbus Police and the Columbus community. It offers full cooperation and support from the city if the DOJ chooses to use legal force to enforce its recommendations.
“The City of Columbus is committed to reform,” the letter states. “We must align the reality of how we are policing with community expectations of how we should be policing. We recognize this can only be done through the implementation of new and best practices that will make Columbus a national model in 21st Century policing.”
The request comes eight days after Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl, was fatally shot by Columbus Police officer Nicholas Reardon April 20. Body camera footage from the scene shows Bryant holding a knife up to another person and Reardon shooting Bryant what appears to be four times in the chest.
The letter references “fierce opposition” from Columbus Police leaders to the city’s reform efforts. It also mentions that if the Fraternal Order of Police — the union representing Columbus Police — is “unable or unwilling” to modify its collective bargaining agreement to align with the Department of Justice’s recommendations, the city supports the department’s use of “court-ordered enforcement mechanisms afforded to them pursuant to federal law.”
“If we exhaust all remedies available to us as partners, and litigation becomes necessary, we will fully support these efforts because we share the ultimate goal of reforming policing practices in the City of Columbus,” the letter states.
The letter asks the DOJ to engage in the review in the next 30 days.
