COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nearly two months after the deadly police shooting of Donovan Lewis in Columbus, Ohio, the leader of the city’s Civilian Police Review Board now has a new permanent home.
Columbus voters approved the establishment of the review board during the 2020 election, following a summer of protests over racial injustice.
What You Need To Know
- The Columbus Inspector General has an office open to the public at 50 W. Town Street, Suite 100
- The IG, Jacqueline Hendricks, leads the Civilian Police Review Board
- Citizens can file complaints against the police at her office, online or by phone
- Complaints must be made within 90 days of the interaction
Jacqueline Hendricks serves as the Inspector General and leads the CPRB. According to her office, the review board has completed 13 investigations into possible police misconduct so far, and have several ongoing investigations.
The board requested that Hendricks lead the Lewis investigation directly, which she said could take time.
“It can be a combination of a lot of things that we’re reviewing, from the body camera footage to police reports, to 911 audios, to cruiser videos and based on all the information we look at that,” said Hendricks. “Then we look at whether or not that officer violated policy and procedure.”
Thursday, the city opened the doors of the Inspector General’s office at 50 W. Town Street, Suite 100 to the public for the first time. The office was created to handle citizen complaints against Columbus police officers. Before the office was established, complaints were handled by the Columbus Police Department’s Internal Affairs.
According to independent research group policescorecard.org, there were over 4,000 police complaints from 2016-2021. Hendricks said that she wants her office to be a place where citizens feel safe and supported.
“If you have an interaction with the police that you feel was a violation or you feel that in the interaction you had a question, that you feel comfortable enough bringing that to our office,” said Hendricks. “Let us look at it, let us do the investigation and let us provide feedback.”
Citizens can file a complaint in three ways. They can walk in and file a complaint in person at the office’s new permanent location. They can also either fill out a complaint form online or call the office’s 24 hour hotline, where people can file a complaint and an investigator will follow up.
“Once it’s in there, it’s assigned to an investigator,” said Hendricks. ”The investigator will contact the complainant either to get more information or to just record the interview so we can get more information about the allegation.”
There are currently five investigators on staff with the office in search of a sixth. All of them have some investigative background, ranging from military to civil law.
The Inspector General’s office only makes administrative recommendations and works with the Civilian Police Review Board. All recommendations go to the Department of Public Safety and/or the Chief of Police. Hendricks said that the main goal is to improve community police relations.
“It could be that disciplinary action could be following. It also could be that it’s just maybe a training issue, and maybe that officer needs to be trained,” said Hendricks. “I think we all have a job to do and we’re all here and the main thing we’re trying to do is just build that trust between the police and the community.”
Complaints of police misconduct must be filed within 90 days of the incident. Citizens can follow up on an incident by contacting the case manager assigned to their complaint.
