Here's what a Department of Justice review of Columbus police's use of force found

A review of Columbus police by the U.S. Department of Justice found deficiencies in the department's use of force records, saying the records do not have complete racial data and are kept in a format that makes analysis of them "cumbersome at best."

Due to shortcomings in Columbus police’s use of force reporting, the department “cannot definitively state that it is doing things very well, nor can it identify any underlying problems that may exist,” the DOJ wrote in an Aug. 9 report.

The report stems from Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther's 2021 request that the DOJ examine Columbus police practices and policies, particularly pertaining to racial bias.

The review, conducted by the DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and Jensen Hughes, a Baltimore-based consulting company, found “no glaring evidence of excessive (use of force) happening at an unusually high rate in Columbus.”

But the department does not track race in all incidents where police use force to subdue suspects and relies on an outdated system where officers file paper reports that are hand-delivered throughout the department, the DOJ found.

“It appears they have operated under a culture that was extremely resistant to change in the past, despite efforts by many to advocate for modernizing systems, technology, and operational practices,” the DOJ wrote.

The DOJ and Jensen Hughes team reviewed department policies, practices and training and conducted interviews and focus groups with local law enforcement and community members.

What the DOJ’s use of force analysis found

In an analysis of department use of force reports for 2022, the review found that officers used force more often against Black people than white people and arrested Black people more often.

The DOJ said it wasn’t clear whether that disparity in arrests fully accounted for the increased use of force because the data was insufficient.

It also wasn’t clear whether Black people were arrested more often than their white counterparts due to racial bias in policing, the DOJ said.

While Black and African American people made up 29.1% of Columbus’ population in 2022, 53% of tracked uses of force were against Black or African American subjects, according to the report. White people made up 54.9% of Columbus’ population and only 29% of use-of-force incidents.

But the rate at which Columbus police used force against Black and white arrestees was almost identical − 1.7% of arrests of Black people involved force compared to 1.6% of arrests of whites.

Incomplete racial data

The Columbus police department divides its use of force reports into eight levels. Only levels 2-8 are tracked, the DOJ said. Level 2 use of force includes chemical spray, Tasers, or batons, and Level 8 indicates deadly force.

The department does not collect data about race for Level 1 uses of force.

The DOJ recommended that Columbus police begin tracking these Level 1 uses of force, which include tackling someone, displaying a gun or using pressure point techniques to force a subject to comply.

Those incidents account for 81% of the department’s use of force and are most likely to contain racial disparities, the DOJ said.

To get a complete picture of racial disparities, Columbus police should track all levels, the DOJ said.

Columbus police use paper force reports instead of digital records

The DOJ also said the department currently uses paper reports for use of force that are hand delivered to other staff. That process is slow and susceptible to human error, the DOJ wrote. It also makes analysis of the reports “cumbersome at best,” the DOJ wrote.

Ideally, the reports should be tracked digitally in real time to identify problems as soon as possible, the DOJ said.

De-escalation skills

The review also raised concerns about ineffective communication from officers, and recommended training in areas such as effective communication, trauma-informed interviewing and especially de-escalation.

Further, while reviewing officers' use of force, the DOJ said the department could watch body-worn camera footage to ensure officers used appropriate verbal communication before escalating to force.

The DOJ identified a case in which body-worn camera footage was not reviewed — an officer deployed pepper spray against a crowd, which could have been a policy violation.

There was no way to determine whether this use of force was justified because the officers were working a special duty assignment and were not wearing body cameras, the DOJ said.

During special duty assignments, officers work security details and similar jobs in their Columbus police uniforms but are paid by other employers. The department doesn’t require officers on special duty to wear body cameras due to lack of resources, the DOJ said.

To prevent those situations, the DOJ recommended that the department identify funding opportunities to make it financially feasible for all officers to wear body-worn cameras during special duty assignments or require at least one officer to use a body-worn camera when chemical spray is used.

How did officials respond?

In a brief statement, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said city staff have received the report and "look forward to analyzing the findings."

"We have not wavered in our commitment to build on the reforms and many successes of the Columbus Division of Police," Ginther said. "This is why we invited the Department of Justice to conduct an intensive review of the division, including its use of force policies and practices."

Brian Steel, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9, said in a statement the report shows Columbus police "get it right much of the time," showing the majority of CPD policies, procedures and protocols meet law enforcement industry standards. He said he was not surprised the review did not find evidence of widespread officer misconduct.

"CPD officers are among the best in the profession," Steel said. "As I have said, misconduct cannot be found where it doesn't exist, or hidden where it does."

bagallion@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Here's what a Department of Justice review of Columbus police's use of force found