The public presentations by the candidates for Columbus Police Chief reminded me of a lesson about change that I first learned as a world-class athlete.
Change isn’t necessarily acting differently in the short term. Genuine, enduring change starts by reprogramming your thoughts. Your actions follow.
I discovered this truth shaving microseconds off my time as an Olympic hurdler.
Adjustments determine whether you win a gold, silver or bronze medal, or nothing at all. But to reposition my acceleration between hurdles, I had to first reframe my thinking by imagining, believing and repeatedly reminding myself how this novel approach should feel.
And more changes are coming. Mayor Andrew J. Ginther s is expected to name a new police chief this week the first ever to be hired from outside the division s ranks.
But the changes in the last year are a drop in the bucket compared to what needs to be done, according to local activists.
Hana Abdur-Rahim, an organizer with the Black Abolitionist Collective of Ohio, called the city’s actions performative. She said community members have pushed for a civilian police review board for years, and she believes it’s telling that the city didn’t move forward with it until after Floyd’s death.
Efforts to avoid calling police growing; officers taking on new training
In the wake of several recent deaths in Columbus and Franklin County at the hands of law enforcement officers, some are saying – don’t call the police. Author: Brittany Bailey Updated: 5:32 PM EDT April 30, 2021
COLUMBUS, Ohio The recent death of Ma’Khia Bryant further opened an already growing wound among many in the Black community.
“I think this community is back to dealing with the bloodline of trauma that we as Black people have had for a very long time,” said Stephanie Hightower, president and CEO of the Columbus Urban League.
Urban League CEO Stephanie Hightower s social justice challenge to businesses: You have to have some courage bizjournals.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bizjournals.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Area political and civil-rights leaders said they would welcome an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into racial bias by Columbus police that has been formally requested by Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and City Attorney Zach Klein
But the head of the local Fraternal Order of Police said the request for a DOJ probe is just another example of officers being relentlessly demonized by politicians.
Ginther and Klein cosigned a letter sent Tuesday requesting the DOJ conduct a review of Columbus police operations identifying any and all racial biases in policing efforts and offering findings and coordinated solutions for reform.