DAYTON — There are questions surrounding Dayton’s police reform movement as the mayor proposed a new ordinance and policy regarding the Use Of Force Committee.
News Center 7′s Mike Campbell sat down one-on-one with Dayton Mayor Jeff Mims to speak about the questions being raised.
Mims was the chair of the Use of Force Committee even before becoming mayor.
He says the changes he’s introducing will make for better oversight and a safer community but some people aren’t yet on board.
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Julio Mateo has served on Dayton’s Police Reform Committees, but a week ago he signed a letter with 14 other people who also served to ask city leaders for a public meeting to address if reform is happening correctly.
Mims told News Center 7 that reform needs to be transparent and lead to more trust, but he said one thing the old Use Of Force Committee could not come to an agreement on with the city was the wording of how much force officers can use.
Some members of the old committee wanted the term “only necessary and objectively reasonable” force could be used.
The city felt that phrasing could open them up to liability and restricted officers.
“You don’t want police officers going into a situation where they feel like their hands are tied relative to their responsibility and getting control,” Mims said.
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The city’s Use Of Force Committee would review incidents like one where officers dragged mobility-impaired Clifford Owensby out of a car.
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Or a currently under review incident where Antonio Lewis died in police custody after crashing his vehicle, then having police handcuff him following a small struggle.
The mayor introduced a new ordinance and use of force policy to create a new committee at Wednesday’s meeting.
The goal is for interactions with police to be positive for everyone.
The proposed new ordinance will have a second reading and vote next week.
If approved, it would go into effect very quickly and a new use of force committee would be formed.
Some of the changes in the new committee included five members instead of seven, with the chairperson picked by the city.
Members would serve two-year terms instead of three, meetings would likely be twice a year instead of four times a year and there would be increased training for every member of the committee.