COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mayor Andrew Ginther and other city leaders provided an update to the Columbus Community Safety Advisory Commission about the status of their recommendations from two years ago.
In January 2020, the commission included 80 recommendations concerning the best practices for the Columbus Division of Police.
Some of those recommendations include having a more diverse police department, recruitment, training, community engagement and others.
The safety committee was made in 2018 and spent 18 months developing the recommendations.
Of the 80 recommendations, 54 of them have been completed and 18 are in progress. Mayor Andrew Ginther says two of the big accomplishments are the Civilian Review Board and the new Inspector General, Jacqueline Hendricks-Moore.
If you would like to see all 80 of the commission’s recommendations and which have been completed, you can go here.
Something that is in the works is improving de-escalation and intervention services. Director Robert Clark, Department of Public Safety, discussed the police department testing new strategies, such as having dispatchers and social workers work together at call centers.
“We’ve recognized the reduced calls for service, certainly no incidents of excessive force, and we referred many individuals to services that they may not have otherwise gotten. So we know that this alternative policing or alternative response works,” Director Clark said.
During contract negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police last year, the city offered an option for 100 members to receive a one-time buyout. At Wednesday’s meeting, a topic of discussion was how the department is working to cope and adjust to the loss.