Columbus NAACP demands citizen review board for police

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The Columbus branch of the NAACP held a news conference Friday to demand a citizen’s review board for police reform. 

“The NAACP Columbus Branch emphatically demands the formation of a Citizens Review Board with sweeping powers and sweeping police reform, including legislation mandating a zero-tolerance approach in penalizing and/or prosecuting police officers who kill unarmed, nonviolent, and non-resisting individuals in an arrest procedure,” a press release from the NAACP states.  

Among the demands:

1. Creating a Citizens Review Board for fatal and excessive force police incidents with subpoena powers 

2. Increasing and recurring mandatory training around racial bias, mental health, and de-escalation tactics. 

3. A ban on the use of knee holds, and choke holds, as an acceptable practice for police officers 

4. The Use of Force Continuum for Columbus Police must ensure that there are at least 6 levels of steps, with clear rules on escalation. 

5. Eliminating the loopholes that allow police officers involved in fatal and excessive force incidents to move to a different department. 

6. Police Departments should be reflective of the communities they serve. More minorities hired. 

7. Ensure transparency, accountability, and safety of our communities by requiring front-facing cameras to be actively recording for all police officers who are on duty. 

8. Review the State’s Open Records Act to determine if officer misconduct information and disciplinary histories are shielded from the public. 

9. Review of the Police Department record of disciplining or changing officers charged with misconduct.