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DeWine Proposes Changes To Police Recruitment, Training And Oversight

wikimedia.org

All shootings by Ohio police officers and any deaths of individuals in custody would be investigated by independent agencies under a proposal announced Wednesday by Governor Mike DeWine. 

The announcement was  his first major response to days of police brutality protests. The Ohio Highway Patrol, which is under DeWine's direct supervision, will no longer investigate its own shootings.  DeWine wants lawmakers to create a law enforcement oversight and ccountability board similar to licensing boards for professionals, with the authority to revoke an officer's ability to work in the state if necessary.  The governor called on lawmakers to ban police choke holds except in life-and-death cases, and ordered the state patrol and the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation to outfit all officers with body cameras, and asked lawmakers to find ways to pay for more body cameras for officers statewide.  DeWine requested the Republican-controlled Legislature, which has recessed for the summer, to take up the measures immediately. He admitted that nothing he's proposing is new, and much of it has been discussed previously. 

Meanwhile the Ohio Mayors Alliance has announced the formation of a law enforcement support network to help cities examine, share, and support efforts to implement the best ways to address racial bias in policing and improve police-community relations.

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