Columbus to pay $800K to settle 2020 protest lawsuit

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Columbus City Council has approved nearly $1 million to settle a lawsuit stemming from Columbus police action during the summer 2020 protests.

The lawsuit alleged Columbus police officers violated protesters’ rights during the summer 2020 protests after the murder of George Floyd.

City council approved $800,000 to settle the case between the city and the plaintiffs who alleged that their constitutional rights were violated. They alleged excessive force, pointing to the use of flash bang grenades, tear gas, wooden bullets and pepper spray.

As the case comes to a close, the director of public safety said there have been significant policy changes at CPD since 2020.

Director of Public Safety Kate McSweeney-Pishotti said those include restricting tear gas and pepper spray at non-violent protests, creating the dialogue team which works to improve police community relationships, and establishing the department of the inspector general and the civilian police review board.

In a statement, McSweeney-Pishotti wrote:

“I would like to take this opportunity to underscore the important changes that have occurred in the Division of Police since 2020- specifically, the significant policy changes and international best practice training now in place.

 With respect to policy, city leaders worked together to enact major reforms including, but not limited to:

Establishing the Department of the Inspector General and Civilian Police Review Board

Supporting the creation of the Dialogue Team

Adding to, and expanding, our Alternative Crisis Response units

Restricting tear gas and pepper spray from use in non-violent protests

I’d also like to acknowledge the vision of Chief Bryant, the first-ever Chief of Police from outside the division, and the exceptional leadership team she has put in place. 

 With respect to training, after 2020, Mayor Ginther directed the Division of Police to find a new, better way to handle civil unrest. Police leadership engaged the world’s foremost expert on crowd behavior, Professor Clifford Stott. We brought him from England to Columbus to train our officers on protest response and protecting First Amendment activity. That led to the creation of our Police Dialogue Unit, which has positioned Columbus as a national model in protest response. Since the implementation of this model, we have seen very few low-level uses of force and very few charges filed related to protests.

Columbus has embraced a facilitation-first, dialogue-led strategy, and the culture inside the division reflects that shift. Officers now see dialogue not just as a tactic, but as a valid and effective model for managing demonstrations.

We’ve trained over 70 CPD officers in Dialogue Policing, and in the last two years, 46 outside agencieshave come to Columbus to learn from our program.

In summary, I am very proud of how the Division of Police has progressed, evolved, and become a national model in how to do this right.”

NBC4 spoke with the plaintiffs’ lead attorney on this case, Brian Noethlich, who also sent a statement:

"The settlement is a testament to the courage and determination of the individuals who came forward to tell their stories about the force inflicted upon them by the police - knee knockers, mace, tear gas, and physical force - during the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020."