Talks to revive a dormant police advisory group in the city were sparked by a wave of national protests following the death of George Floyd in May. He was an unarmed black man who was killed while in Minneapolis police custody.
Officers were caught on video holding Floyd down and one officer was shown kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes. His death caused national outrage, including several demonstrations held in Clark and Champaign counties.
“Creating the advisory team is something the city needs to do. It is partially a response to what is going on in the country and something we simply should have done anyway,” Springfield Mayor Warren Copeland told fellow city commissioners earlier this month.
An amendment to the city ordinances passed on Tuesday will replace the since dormant Police Community Relations Advisory Group with the Community Police Advisory Team. The later will be larger and have more responsibilities, said Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck.
Members of the Police Advisory Team will report their findings and recommendations to the city commission.
The new group will consist of nine community leaders, who are Springfield residents, and will be charged with reviewing and making recommendations pertaining to existing Springfield Police Division policies. They will also be tasked with reviewing use of force incidents as well as the division’s complaint process.
Another responsibility for the team will be making suggestions such as what type of equipment that could be added to the police division’s inventory.
However, it will not be in charge of conducting any investigations within the department and instead will be part of an oversight process that includes reviewing the results of those investigations, said Graf.
He said the group will also give the police division another avenue to share information with the public.
Graf added that the Springfield Police Division has worked closely with the Ohio Collaborative, a twelve-person panel that establishes statewide standards for law enforcement agencies.
He said as a result, the division has taken steps to make sure its meeting the collaborative’s standards especially in areas related to diversity, inclusion and the handling of use of force incidents.
The recent legislation passed by Springfield commissioners will go into effect Sept. 8. At that time applications will be made available to those interested in applying, including on the city’s website, springfieldohio.gov.
Those who are selected to participate will be required to complete the city’s Citizen Police Academy. They must also be educated on the current operations of the police division as well as become familiar with its policy and procedures manual, which is about 800 pages long.
A similar group will be working with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office as county commissioners passed a resolution at the end of July to create the Clark County Law Enforcement Advisory Team.
About the Author
