Columbus police have a "significant disparity of use of force against minority residents" that the city must address, according to a consultant's recommendations on improving the division.

Highlighting multiple issues of racial disparity, a 330-page review by Matrix Consulting Group, completed for the Columbus Community Safety Advisory Commission as part of its review of city police training and procedures, found numerous racial divides within the Police Division.

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Though white residents make up almost 61% of the city's population, they account for 26 percent of the Police Division's 438 incidents involving use of force in 2017, the study found. Blacks, however, account for about half of the use-of-force incidents — hovering between 49% and 53% since 2013, even though black residents make up only 28% of the city's population.

"There was a clear and discernible disparity of application (of use of force) between 'black' and 'white' contacts," said the report, obtained by The Dispatch through the Ohio Public Records Act.

>> Survey: Black community has concerns about Columbus police, and minority officers agree

Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, commission Chairwoman Janet Jackson and Richard Brady, president of Matrix Consulting Group, have scheduled a news conference for 3 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the consultant's findings.

"There were strong recommendations from (community) members that more directed steps must be taken to strengthen understanding with minority communities," the study reported.

An internal survey of more than 1,000 departmental employees, or about 44% of the Columbus Division of Police, showed that overall, about 8% had witnessed an officer demonstrate bias against a member of the public.

But of the more than 100 black employees who responded to the survey, almost 30% said they had witnessed discrimination against a member of the public — and almost 70% had witnessed discrimination within the Police Division.

"The high number of respondents that stated they experienced discrimination or witnessed officers discriminate against members of the public is a cause for concern," the report warns.

Most city residents are confident in police conduct and accountability, a survey found. Almost two-thirds “agree” or “strongly agree” that police officers protect the rights of everyone in the community and make decisions that are good for all residents. When misconduct does occur, officers are held accountable, 62% of residents said.

However, views vary significantly by race and ethnicity, the report found, with nonwhite and black residents giving "substantially lower performance ratings overall compared to white residents." Eight out of 10 white residents said police are doing a good or excellent job overall, compared with 69% of non-white residents and 61% of black residents.

The report recommends the Police Division create an "early warning" program to identify potentially problematic officers. That system could be used to intervene when triggered by "more use-of-force incidents than is typical," community complaints or other warning signs.

Types of use of force employed by Columbus police, in order of frequency used by officers, were mace, Tasers, physical strikes and firearms.

Among the many recommendations in the report are that the Police Division:

• Continue intense training, education and monitoring to address the disparity of use of force against minorities.

• Continue to work on building community trust.

• Increase training on de-escalation and procedural justice that deals with using fair processes.

• Address concerns raised by employees about internal and external bias.

Interim Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan didn't respond to a request to discuss the findings. Jackson, the former Franklin County Municipal Court judge and Columbus city attorney who chairs the Safety Advisory Commission, couldn't be reached for comment.

Keith Ferrell, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9 that represents Columbus officers, had no comment, saying he hadn't read the report.

"I’m not at all surprised" at the report's findings, said Sean Walton, an attorney involved in lawsuits against the city related to police shootings, including that of Tyre King, a 13-year-old shot and killed after using a fake gun to rob someone of $10.

"It’s something we have strongly asserted was the case for years now," Walton said. "Through the information we had and through the numbers we had seen, to us it had been clear that force was used disproportionately against people of color. I'm glad this is being reported and hopefully change can come from this.



"It’s absolutely systemic and something has to be done."

Nana Watson, president of the Columbus NAACP, said there has been a lack of trust with the Police Division. "That’s not a secret. I think the majority of the plan will address the issues that the consulting firm found.



"It won’t all be perfect; it’s new and sometimes when you do new things, individuals can’t embrace it. It’s our hope that they will."

In early 2017, a Columbus Police initiative that blitzed high-crime neighborhoods with undercover officers drew protests that it targeted poor, black residents. A similar program the year before had resulted in 23-year-old Henry Green being shot and killed by undercover police in Linden. That shooting drew sharp criticism from the Linden community and activists who demanded the city investigate police use of force.

Police said Green fired a gun at the officers. A grand jury found no cause to indict the officers, and the division ruled that the officers were justified in the shooting.

In November 2017, Ginther announced plans to end the controversial safety details and to create the commission to review the Police Division's policies and procedures.

But as the commission's work progressed, tensions continued to simmer.

In October, a group of more than 30 clergy members from different faiths signed a letter asking Ginther to make seven changes in the Police Division, including taking complaints and investigations into racism and discrimination within the department away from the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Columbus replaced the controversial undercover safety details with more bike- and foot-patrol programs that increased police interaction with residents.

The report found that the Police Division's new body-camera program, in addition to dash cameras in police cruisers, "is helping to resolve community complaints by providing more evidence to an investigation."

A recent high-profile use-of-force case that was aired on social media proved the value of body cameras, the report said, "but also demonstrated that there is work to do to improve relationships with the community." Though it didn't specify the incident in question, Columbus police in June released more than 49 minutes of body-cam video of an officer who punched a man in the face who rushed at one officer and stopped, then refused to comply with police instructions to stay back from a gunshot-investigation scene.

The entire video served to give context to edited cellphone videos posted online by bystanders, which didn't show what led to the punch — the man ignoring multiple orders to "get back" and then aggressively squaring off as if to fight the officer.

Division policy allows officers to use chemical spray, including mace, against non-violent protesters who refuse to disperse after two verbal warnings. However, the report notes, such use of force without an aggressive act "is low threshold" for chemical agents and contrary to practices in Chicago, New York and Cincinnati.

The Police Division has a system to identify officers who might be displaying behavior that can be harmful to the officer’s career and the department's relationship with the community. But "since reviews are not automatically triggered like an early warning system, (the program) is not as effective at early intervention," the report found.

Columbus police should adopt a better system, the report said, which could lead to officer "counseling, additional training, temporary reassignment or referral for mental health support," or discipline.

bbush@dispatch.com

@ReporterBush

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner