The Justice Department announced the release of a new report, an independent review of the use of force policies, procedures, and protocols of the Columbus, Ohio, Division of Police (CDP), as well as the training associated with these policies and operations. The review was requested by the CDP and conducted by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and Jensen Hughes, a critical response provider. This follows the February 2023 release of the COPS Office Columbus (Ohio) Division of Police: Roadmap to Implementation report and is part of ongoing technical assistance to CDP.
The goal of the report is to identify areas needing improvement through findings and recommendations aimed at enhancing organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and performance. The report emphasizes that “[t]he overarching theme associated with almost all the recommendations is the need for enhanced technological capabilities. By upgrading technological capabilities, the CDP will be well-situated to optimize its performance and ensure accountability at a much higher level than it is currently able to achieve.” It further states that “[i]ncreased data collection, analysis, and reporting is of the utmost importance at this time for the CDP to become the transparent, community-oriented policing agency the people of Columbus want and deserve.”
“Whenever we support best practices in policing, it benefits both the department and the community it serves,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. “Ultimately, the goal of these types of reviews is twofold: to improve the delivery of policing services to the community, and by doing so, to increase public trust and enhance community-police relationships.”
“Investing in technology that facilitates data collection, analysis, and reporting underscores an agency’s commitment to the public,” said COPS Office Director Hugh T. Clements Jr. “When an agency voluntarily asks for this kind of assessment and is interested in making improvements, everyone benefits.”
The Critical Response program provides targeted technical assistance (TA) to state, local, territorial, and Tribal law enforcement agencies experiencing high-profile events or significant issues. This assistance can include immediate TA delivery for pressing needs, data analysis or after-action reviews.
The COPS Office was established in 1994 as part of a strategy to advance community policing nationwide through grants, knowledge resources products including training programs. Since its inception has awarded more than $20 billion in grants supporting over 13 thousand law enforcement agencies facilitating hiring approximately 138 thousand officers redeployment efforts aiming reduce crime build trust between communities served.
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