“Today’s decision was not a choice between supporting the police or supporting the community. It was about supporting fairness and due process.

I fully support the decision made by Director Pettus and am grateful for his thorough and thoughtful consideration. I am also grateful to the community and to the Columbus Division of Police for their patience.

In the coming weeks, there will be much discussion about this decision. What I believe we can all agree on is that every person in every neighborhood deserves to be safe. That can only happen if the Division of Police and the community they serve work together."