Ohio’s pretrial system is one area that needs revamping. Policies that rely on wealth to determine whether someone is detained before trial put public safety at risk. Under this system, a financially well-off but dangerous person could easily pay his way out of jail and back into our community.
Ohioans recently demonstrated their concern regarding unsafe bail policies by passing State Issue 1, which amended the state’s constitution to require that judges consider “public safety, the seriousness of the offense, a person’s criminal record, and a person’s likelihood of returning to court” along with any other factor the Ohio General Assembly decides when setting bail.
While Issue 1 is very popular, it does not create actual change in the pre-trial system. It does, however, put lawmakers in charge of bail policies. In the next session, the Ohio General Assembly should use legislation like H.B. 315, originally proposed in the 134th General Assembly, as a framework for impactful pre-trial reform. The bill would, among other things, establish a presumption of release on personal recognizance unless the accused is deemed a flight risk or threat to public safety. This would keep dangerous people out of our community while ensuring that people who pose no public safety risk are not detained just because they can’t make bail.
Lawmakers can further improve public safety by sufficiently funding law enforcement. Studies demonstrate that more officers and, importantly, better-trained officers are better at ameliorating violent crime. But departments can’t provide this training if their budgets are slashed.
Along with providing funding for comprehensive training, policymakers can help ensure that police across the state adhere to high professional standards by establishing an independent board that sets a code of conduct for officers and can suspend or revoke an officer’s license if they do not follow the code.
Governor DeWine and Attorney General Yost have proposed this type of licensure system to ensure consistency across departments. Lawmakers should support and encourage DeWine and Yost to revamp this reform in 2023.
Police departments also need to be funded properly. Many departments rely on fines and fees collected by police officers, such as traffic tickets, to make up their budgets. This not only strains relationships with the community, but it takes police officers away from their main function. Lawmakers should ensure that police budgets are funded via appropriations instead.
One final way that lawmakers can help police focus on their core mission is cannabis reform. Cannabis criminalization unnecessarily takes precious law enforcement resources away from focusing on crimes that are actually detrimental to public safety.
On the federal level, Ohio lawmakers should support the States Reform Act, which would remove cannabis from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act and allow states to choose their own marijuana policies.
Voters have been vocal about public safety concerns. It’s time for lawmakers to show they have been listening by adopting policies that put public safety first.
Michael Segrest is the AFP-Ohio Coalitions Director for Public Safety.
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