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Bill calls for new written reports following police shootings
TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: October 21, 2014
Rep. Peter Beck, R-Mason, introduced a bill into the Ohio General Assembly this week that would require law enforcement agencies to submit a written report to the Ohio Department of Public Safety regarding the death of any person who is shot by law enforcement officers.
House Bill 630 also would require all law enforcement officers to complete in-service firearm training if in any year five or more of the deceased were unarmed.
The proposed legislation states that every law enforcement agency shall submit a written report to the division of criminal justice services of the public safety department regarding the death of any person, other than a law enforcement officer, who was shot by one or more of the law enforcement agency’s law enforcement officers during the course of the law enforcement officer’s official duties.
The proposed reports would have to be reviewed for accuracy by the agency’s highest ranking law enforcement officer prior to submission.
At a minimum, a report would have to include all of the following: the name, gender, race, ethnicity and age of the deceased; the date, time and location of the death; a brief description of the circumstances surrounding the death; the name and address of any person, other than a law enforcement officer, who is known to have witnessed the shooting; the name of any witness or law enforcement officer who has stated that the deceased was, or was not, in the possession of a firearm at the time of the shooting, with a summary of the witness’ or law enforcement officer’s statement; and a description of any firearm recovered at the location of the shooting.
All reports would have to be submitted within 72 hours after an individual’s death.
HB 530 states that the division of criminal justice services would review, file and maintain the report.
“A law enforcement agency’s report shall be a public record that is open for inspection,” the bill reads.
The proposal charges the public safety department with producing an annual report that, at a minimum, summarizes each written report submitted to the division of criminal justice services during the preceding year and analyzes the submitted reports as a whole.
HB 630 is awaiting a committee assignment.
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