COLUMBUS (WCMH) — With protest beginning in Columbus over the death of Casey Goodson Jr., some are questioning if any change has happened since the summer when Ohio saw protests over the death of George Floyd.
“As far as progress that we’ve made over the past few months, in particularly since the George Floyd murder, we’ve made no progress,” said Rep. Erica Crawley, (D-Columbus).
Crawley was one of the lawmakers who introduced legislation relating to police reform this year. She is calling for body cameras to be worn and de-escalation training to be offered. She says none of her bills were given a hearing at the legislature.
“This really could save lives and I think that there needs to be more of a priority around addressing law enforcement violence and addressing racism as a public health crisis,” Crawley said.
On the other side of the aisle, Ohio Rep. Cindy Abrams, a former police officer, also introduced legislation. She said most who are in law enforcement are professionals and they deserve to be treated as such and offered additional training. Abrams’ bill has also seen little movement, but she said that doesn’t mean they aren’t working on it.
“Just because it hasn’t seen a lot of movement at the actually Statehouse there’s a lot of research, a lot of listening that’s gone on so far,” Abrams (R-Harrison) said. “It just gets us in a better position for January when we reintroduce it.”
On the same day Goodson was shot by a deputy, Gov. Mike DeWine’s office announced the development of a statewide minimum standard for deadly force, largely prohibiting chokeholds. He also announced a new statewide minimum standard for law enforcement’s response to mass protests and demonstrations.
In a release, DeWine said, “We must rebuild trust between the public and law enforcement, and these changes continue to build on Ohio’s work to improve community-police relations. Law enforcement agencies that are certified in the Ohio Collaborative’s standards show commitment to following, and oftentimes exceeding, Ohio’s best practices for serving and protecting our diverse communities.”
With the legislative session ending at the end of December, both lawmakers said they plan to reintroduce their bills in January.