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Community group urges police transparency, citing DOJ findings during Columbus committee hearing

Columbus Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee ยท December 6, 2024

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Summary

A speaker from People's Justice Project told the Public Safety committee the Columbus Police Department lacks accountability, cited alleged DOJ findings and a series of arrests of officers, and urged a body-camera footage release policy and a rebalancing of the city budget away from police funding.

During the committee's public comment period, Brianna Chambers of the People's Justice Project used her allotted three minutes to call for greater transparency and accountability from the Columbus Police Department.

Chambers said the city's Department of Justice report shows untracked use-of-force complaints and alleged that "Columbus police have killed over 60 people since 2013" and that the department has an "85% unsolved violent crime rate." She also criticized apparent budget trends, alleging that funding for the Civilian Review Board has decreased while the police budget has increased, and urged the adoption of a body-camera footage release policy.

Her remarks were presented as citizen testimony; the committee did not provide a response during the hearing. Chair Emmanuel Remi thanked Chambers for her testimony and closed the public comment period. The claims made in public comment were not corroborated in committee testimony during this hearing and would require external verification for accuracy.