Since the death of George Floyd, debates surrounding police brutality and racial injustice against Black citizens have intensified across the nation.
Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, on May 25, has since led to policy changes for many police departments.
Bartholomew County can be counted among those communities.
No local police agency taught the controversial takedown technique prior to Floyd’s death, but the Columbus Police Department recently made changes to its general orders in an effort to better protect all local citizens.
On Sept. 1, during a city board of works meeting, CPD approved several updates to its general orders.
One of the changes, which was recommended by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), addressed “unreasonable use of force.”
CPD Chief Michael Richardson said the order will require employees to notify appropriate supervisors if they observe another agency employee or public safety associate engaged in unreasonable use of force, or if they become aware of a violation of department police, state or federal or local ordinance. He also said that some situations may necessitate immediate intervening. Those situations would include when an employee witnesses unreasonable actions by another employee that could lead to injury, death or “violation of constitutional civil rights.”
While the department has never taught the maneuvers, the general order also outlawed the use of vascular neck restraints and chokeholds unless deadly force is justified.
Moving forward, CPD plans on bringing CALEA representatives to give presentations on the general order recommendations. Richardson said he will also invite board of works members to attend the event so they have a better understanding of the changes.
The orders add more to an already solid base of accountability for local officers.
Force is not common at either CPD or the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department. Less than 1% of interactions with the public result in officers using force, according to local statistics. A total of 129 of 91,059 calls for service involving CPD officers resulted in the use of force in 2018 and 2019 while Bartholomew County sheriff’s deputies reported using force 28 times out of 80,622 calls for service over the same time period.
Both law enforcement agencies require all instances of use of force by officers to be reviewed, and measures are in place to raise flags if individual officers show patterns of using excessive force.
CPD has used body, and dash, cameras since 2015 and the sheriff’s department is in the process of obtaining similar technologies.
Local officials are making necessary changes. The new general orders don’t emphasize force, but identify ways to bring about compliance while also keeping officers safe when a suspect fails to comply with commands.
There’s no simple way to solve issues of racism and police violence, but local agencies are making strides in navigating the issue.
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The Columbus Police Department’s current general orders can be viewed at www.columbus.in.gov/police/home/general-orders/.
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