The state’s task force on community-police relations meets at Central State University Monday evening.
Governor John Kasich created the task force in a December executive order. The idea is to hold public events around the state on the tense relationships between police and some communities, and to bring together experts for their feedback on how to improve police connections with communities of color.
His announcement came after several high-profile police shootings of unarmed black people in Ohio, including 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland and 22-year-old John Crawford III in Beavercreek. Rice’s death is still being investigated. The police officer who shot John Crawford III in a Walmart in August remains on leave, but was found innocent of any charges by a grand jury in September. The officer says he believed John Crawford was waving a real gun—the weapon turned out to be a BB gun sold in the Walmart store. That case is now under review by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
The governor’s team is headed by former state Senator Nina Turner and Ohio Department of Public Safety director John Born. It’s supposed to make recommendations to the governor by the end of April about improving police-community relations.
Monday’s forum is at Central State University in Wilberforce, in the Paul Robeson Cultural and Performing Arts Center. It will start with two hours of testimony from attorneys from Columbus and Indiana. Public testimony runs from 6:20 until 8:30 p.m. More information on the task force is available here.
Lewis Wallace is WYSO's managing editor, substitute host and economics reporter. Follow him @lewispants.
