With
local, state, and national law enforcement authorities immersed in
navigating the challenges wrought by the current social unrest, the
Ohio Department of Natural Resources is no less eyeing the debate.
These
matters are being explored with macroscopic scrutiny - that is,
matters which can be seen - as well as microscopic inquiry – or
matters that cannot be easily seen.
As
it is with every other law enforcement agency in Ohio. So much so, in
fact, that Governor Mike DeWine, the Ohio Attorney General, and the
Ohio General Assembly are all working toward welding together a set
of rules that will embrace the assurance of public safety, the
necessary enforcement of laws, and safeguarding the life and rights
of the accused.
For
now the look-see highlights both what law enforcement officers can
and cannot do as well as the equipment they carry.
Of
equal – perhaps even greater - importance are the points that also
zero in on law enforcement personnel’s training that features the
use of so-called “excessive force” and “deadly force.”
And
yes, the Natural Resources Department has a current strategy for
that, too.
In
all, the Natural Resources Department has
approximately 300 commissioned officers, says
Sarah Wickham, the
Department’s Chief
of Communications.
Wickham
said the Department is beholden
to follow the law
enforcement training standards set by the Ohio Peace Officer Training
Commission “and certification is governed by them as well.”
“Use
of force training is provided to all officers and it does not
differentiate treatment except for certain physical circumstances
(i.e. if a woman is pregnant, or if a suspect is in a wheelchair),”
Wickham said in a prepared
statement in response to a
request for details in
developing this story.
Much
of what is happening now is being directed at presumptive excessive
use of force allegedly at the hands of law enforcement officers.
But
Wickham said also in her prepared remarks that within the past five
years there “have only been two cases, both federal court cases
filed in relation to incidents that occurred in 2017, levied against
ODNR officers related to excessive force complaints.”
Parks
and Watercraft officers Jeremy Berger, Jason Beard and Raymond Watson
were named in those
lawsuits, Wickham
said.
“The
lawsuit against Officer Berger contains an allegation that race may
have played a role in the incident,” Wickham
said,
adding the
Department’s
“Office
of Law Enforcement in conjunction with ODNR Legal Counsel conducted
the initial investigations into the allegations.”
“In
both cases it was determined that the officers acted properly and
within in the scope of their duties. The first case was
dismissed and the second case is currently pending,” Wickham
said.
As
always, the
devil is in the
details, and the Natural
Resources Department has a road map for dealing
with such scenarios. Just
as does any other law enforcement agency, says
Dominic Binkley,
spokesman for Ohio Attorney
General David Yost, in
his prepared remarks for this story.
“(The)
ODNR staff who complete basic peace officer training receive the
same training as traditional municipal peace officers. So they are
responsible for
completing
the minimum 737 hours of Ohio Peace Officer Training
Commission-approved training, including Civil Liability and Use of
Force,” Binkley says.
Binkley
says the application of force “is instructed throughout the
complete curriculum under various lesson plans."
“For
instance, during Community Diversity and Procedural Justice,
Firearms, Subject Control Techniques, and Stops and Approaches
training (just naming a few), this is discussed throughout the
instruction, along with how the application of force can be applied
legally and how the application of force can be interpreted,”
Binkley says.
“Internal
agency (ODNR) policy may provide further direction on how the agency
addresses this. Any additional questions should be directed to (the)
ODNR,”
Binkley
said also in his prepared remarks.
To
that end, included
in Wickham’s reply was forwarded
a six-page Natural Resources protocol
document
entitled “Response to Resistance/Aggressive Directive.
This
directive’s stated purpose
is to “Provide guidance for an Officer’s reasonable response to
an offender’s resistance/aggression, and to review the Office’s
actions to determine if the actions were within federal and state
constitutional standards and statutory requirements.”
Among
specifics are
such items
as the establishment of a seven-person internal Natural Resources
Department “Critical Action Review Committee” as well as
15-person Natural Resources “Department Critical Action Team.”
The
latter team must be comprised of exempt law enforcement personnel,
the six-page document reads.
Each
of these two groups are empowered to review various investigative
aspects
in response to such things as the discharge of a firearm in a law
enforcement situation, if
an accused displayed resistance or aggression “in a law enforcement
situation,”
or if the accidental discharge of a firearm resulted in physical
harm.
Such
definitions
as force,
deadly force, physical harm to persons, serious physical harm to
persons, reasonable
belief,
risk, substantial risk, traumatic event, relief
from duty while an officer’s case is under review
are all spelled out as well as how a commissioned officer is to
report on an incident and the subsequent investigation are
all likewise
spelled
out in the six-page exemplar.
The
document then hammers
out in
its
“policy and procedure” segment
even such seemingly mundane details as how
an
incident
report is to be completed.
“The
preservation of human life
is of the highest value to the State of Ohio and ODNR. Therefore,
officers must have an objectively,
reasonable belief that deadly force is necessary to protect life
before (the)
use of deadly force is utilized,” the
six-page protocol document says also
on
that subject of current events importance.
In
that regard, the kinds of potential assailant control and restraint
devices deployed to Natural Resources commissioned officers is
codified in agency strategy. For Parks
and Watercraft Division officers,
issued besides firearms are pepper
spray, batons and Tasers while
Wildlife Division
officers are issued pepper
spray and batons along
with firearms, Wickham
said in her statement.
Even
so, Binkley did say in his comments that “The
use of Conducted Energy Devices, i.e. Taser, is not part of the basic
training. However, there may be classroom discussion by an
instructor for awareness, and this type of training is provided by
agencies that use the device.”
All
of which is the word of the day for law enforcement officers. That
does not mean these definitions, procedures, standards and
such are chiseled
in stone, however.
To
the contrary. Wickham says
also the Natural Resources Department “is currently in the process
of updating all of our law enforcement policies and directives”
“We
will update the use of force policy based on the Governor’s
(recent) directive,” Wickham said in her remarks.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFriachk@Ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com
