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.
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.
“(The) ODNR staff who complete basic peace officer training receive the same training as traditional municipal peace officers. So they are responsible for
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.”
“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.
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
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