Elizabeth Brown renews push to limit Columbus police military equipment use on protesters
An ordinance pushed by Columbus City Council President Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown that would limit certain military-style weaponry and equipment from being used by police during protests is being resurrected Monday night.
A closely divided city council tabled a similar measure indefinitely in September 2020, months after racial justice protests in late May and June following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Also on Monday's agenda is an ordinance sponsored by Councilman Rob Dorans that would codify that police badge numbers or other officer-identifying information must be visible even on alternative uniforms, such as riot gear. Numerous complaints were made to the city by protesters about police officers who did not have visible badge numbers or name identification tags during the protests.
Restrictions on police action during Columbus protests
The new language pushed by Brown expands upon the restrictions she sought in 2020 that would apply to police during protests, and follows closely a federal court settlement the city entered into regarding the use of "less lethal" weapons during protests and riots like those that occurred in 2020.
"Council takes seriously what the court said," Brown said Friday.
That agreement would become city code, restraining Columbus police from using tear gas, wooden or rubber bullets, batons, flash-bang grenades and other potentially injurious methods against nonviolent protesters on streets and sidewalks.
When protesters are trespassing in private property or in government buildings, police would be prohibited by city code from using the "infliction of pain" to punish or deter nonviolent protesters, and would have to avoid any use of force when making arrests.
The proposed ordinance states that the public is "permitted to record at protests or whenever any police officer interacts with the public." It also states that people "legitimately displaying" press, medical of "legal observer" credentials are permitted to be present so long as they don't interfere with arrests, enter a closed crime scene or interfere with public safety officials rendering medical assistance.
Officers who violate these legal requirements could be subject to discipline.
Brown said the push to enact the legislation is resurfacing now because new city public-safety leadership has had time to review it and give input.
Gone from the previous ordinance is a mandate restricting the Division of Police to owning no more than four helicopters — a limit that The Dispatch reported last month the division had come to on its own.
"We felt they're working in really good faith to be responsive to public requests on this issue," Brown said.
But the ordinance also includes requirements that helicopters stay at 1,500 feet above sea level or higher to reduce noise — unless given temporary approval by the Federal Aviation Administration — and to confine flight paths to major corridors that avoid passing over residential areas.
Like the previous version, the ordinance also limits armored vehicles and "explosives and pyrotechnics" to tactical police units, limits the use of rifles to "critical incidents," and requires an annual report from the police chief to council on police use of force, among other things.
"Our number one focus is reducing violent crime, and nothing in the ordinance will limit police or their ability to keep neighborhoods safe," Glenn McEntyre, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said in an email.
"We will continue to provide police with all the tools and technology they need — including maintaining our helicopter fleet — to address violent crime, while also continuing to build trust with the community," he said.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus council to consider limits on police equipment in protests
