Police reform plan coming next week

A long-awaited police reform plan from Rep. Phil Plummer, R- Dayton, will be formally introduced next week.

Plummer, who spent more than 30 years in law enforcement and was Montgomery County Sheriff before being elected to the Ohio Legislature, told News Center 7 Wednesday that he is putting finishing touches on the proposal and it will be ready next week for introduction and hearings.

Plummer has been working on the proposal for more than a year. “The overall goal is to protect the good officers, to give them resources, the training, the equipment to do their jobs and hold the not-so-good officers accountable.”

While text of the bill is not available yet, Plummer is talking about the plan in general, saying it will add a mix of transparency and accountability to law enforcement statewide.

For many months he has been in talks with interested parties including the Ohio Chiefs of Police, local NAACP, Buckeye Sheriffs Association and Fraternal Order of Police.

Earlier this week Democratic state lawmakers unveiled their police reform plan with similar goals.

“To ensure accountability and to re-think the way we police our streets and keep our kids, communities healthy, safe and secure,” said Rep. Emilia Sykes, D- Akron, House Minority Leader.

One part of the Democratic proposal would require all police officers to intervene if they see another officer use excessive force.

Plummer’s plan focuses, in part, on regulation of police officers in a new way.

It would create a statewide board to oversee a licensing of officers who must remain in good standing with the state board to continue working in law enforcement.

“It establishes an oversite board for police,” Plummer said. “We don’t have that right now. Doctors, Lawyers, medical professions. If they’re bad actors they can step in and take their license. So there’s going to be a diverse board of patrol officers, command officers, citizens to look at these not-so-good officers and maybe remove them.”

Another aspect of Plummer’s plan is a statewide discipline database for police officers.

Any officer who is disciplined on the job will have that on their record and that record could be viewed by any future employer when the officer goes to apply for a job elsewhere.

Plummer said he is hoping to win approval by both the Ohio House and Senate before the Legislature takes its summer break at the end of June. Gov. Mike DeWine earlier expressed support for police reform and is expected to endorse the proposal once it is introduced.

Cox Media Group