DAYTON — Officers’ use of force is at the center of attention from the president of the Dayton Police Union.
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The concerns began to swell after Reginald Thomas died during a struggle with Dayton police over a gun following his stop for a bike law violation.
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Protestors have pointed to viral videos they believe show police acting inappropriately, but the union president said a look at a portion of a video does not show the whole story.
“We record everything. If an officer makes a mistake, they are disciplined,” FOP President Sgt. Kyle Thomas said.
Thomas said the very end of police and public interactions never tells the whole story.
“When the police are forced to make somebody comply with them, it never looks pretty, right? That’s the last case scenario, that’s the last thing we want,” Thomas said.
He said community members often form opinions from small segments of cell phone video of traffic stops.
“You’ll see that for a very long period of time, most of the time the officer is pleading with them to get out,” Thomas said.
Protesters at Dayton City Hall on Wednesday told commissioners they believe the use of force is at an unacceptable level.
“Human rights, civil rights, and the humanity of Black men and boys, because that’s what this is about,” Zakiya Sankara-Jabar with Racial Justice NOW said.
Police union leaders insist every interaction involves two sides and everyone must act respectfully to de-escalate.
“We don’t want problem employees, so when we see an issue, it is completely acceptable and wanted for the community to say, ‘Hey, are you aware? Have you seen this?’ and then let the organization do its job,” Thomas said.
He said every use of force is reviewed by the professional standards bureau and a community group, plus an independent accountability auditor can open an investigation at any time.
He stresses that the use of force is not outside department policy; it’s only when that use of force is determined to be beyond what is necessary.
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