“It’s become evident that we need to do some things to try to find ways to improve upon how that group functions and understanding the goals and objectives of that area as well,” the mayor recently said.
Some members of the existing Use of Force Committee said they believe their group is being replaced because it did not back down during a dispute over police policy and its members refused to be a “rubber stamp.”
“Any good policy protects government processes from potential bad actors — this (new) ordinance creates a process where meaningful reform, backed by the Dayton community, could be dead on arrival at police headquarters,” said Jacob Wourms, interim chair of the existing group.
3 to 2 vote
Dayton City Commission on Wednesday approved an ordinance by a 3 to 2 vote that creates a new Use of Force Advisory Committee, replacing an existing use of force committee that was created by legislation a couple of years ago.
Mayor Mims and Commissioners Matt Joseph and Chris Shaw voted in favor of the new ordinance. Commissioners Darryl Fairchild and Shenise Turner-Sloss voted against the legislation.
The new ordinance reduces the number of voting members from seven to five, and reduces the number of non-voting members from five to two.
The new advisory committee will meet semi-annually, though additional meetings could be scheduled at the request of the city commission.
The existing committee is supposed to meet at least quarterly, but its members said the city has not helped convene a meeting in about a year.
Darius Beckham, senior policy aide in the mayor’s office, said the new ordinance clarifies that the primary function of the committee is to review use of force data from the police department.
The original ordinance said the Use of Force Committee will make recommendations to the city commission for potential changes to the police department’s use-of-force policy.
The new ordinance says the committee’s recommendations for policy changes will be made to the police chief, though the city commission will be informed of all recommendations in writing “in a timely fashion.”
The commission may issue a response to the recommendations and may make a referral to the city manager for consideration of potential policy changes, according to the new ordinance.
Support, opposition to new legislation
Commissioner Shaw said he thinks the proposed changes strengthen the use of force committee.
“At the end of the day, it’s an advisory board and I think we need to make clear what the role of this body is and more importantly what it is not,” he said. “This work is difficult and I think we have to be flexible.”
The mayor and Commissioner Joseph said city leaders should always try to find ways and opportunities to improve its ordinances and committees.
Mims said the city adopted more than 80% of the recommendations that came from a use of force police reform group.
Commissioner Fairchild, however, said it’s important for the community to trust the city and the police department, and that actions like this minimize the role citizens have in decision-making.
“We’re taking a step backwards with the passage of this,” he said.
Fairchild said he thinks the mayor and possibly other city leaders unilaterally decided to “set aside” the original committee after the group pushed hard to make some changes to the police department’s use-of-force policy. The legal counsel for the police department and officials opposed the changes to policy.
Fairchild said members of the original committee were not consulted or involved in any way when the city was developing legislation to create a new advisory committee.
Committee members
Wourms, the interim chair, said he’s most concerned about the advisory committee’s recommendations going to the police chief.
He said city commission is an elected body that is directly accountable to the voters, while the police chief is several steps removed.
“Any person serving as chief has to balance a multitude of political influences, from patrol officers to the FOP (union) to police leadership to city administration staff,” he said. “Putting policy reform so far away from the voters would be a huge mistake.”
Beckham has said the chief will receive recommendations at the same time as the commission.
Wourms also said changing the meeting frequency to semi-annually could be a problem because it is impossible to do meaningful work when a group only meets once every 180 days.
Wourms said these changes, along with shortening the terms from three to two years, make the committee a “hollow shell” of the original group, which sends the message that police reform is no longer a priority at City Hall.
David Fox, a member of the original Use of Force Committee, said he applauds the mayor and city leaders for “having the courage” to pursue police reform efforts.
Fox, who also serves on the Dayton Unit NAACP’s executive board, said he thinks members of his committee did not understand that making recommendations and implementing them are not the same thing.
“After reviewing the ordinance, it kind of corrects that situation where the people didn’t understand the scope” of their duties, he said.
About the Author
