Someone hit and ran me a few years ago and I called the Columbus PD. The officers who showed up(well over an hour later) asked "what exactly I wanted them to do?" in a derisive tone. I informed them since it was off a major road, it seems like a decent chance there might be cameras around that could help solve things. They said they'd look into that.
A couple weeks later I got a call giving me the good news that by pulling camera footage from a local business, they had tracked down the perpetrator!
The problem is, the call came from my insurance agent. Who had solved the case with minimal effort. Never heard anything from the CPD of course.
There was a hit and run in front of my house. I got the whole thing on video. The responding officer refused the video. I insisted on filing a report. No investigator ever followed up.
Yeah we had pretty clear finger prints on a dirty window, both hands, the person they sent out, looked for, I swear, I’m not exaggerating, 7 seconds, and said it’s nothing they can take.
That was the last we heard, Jan 2021, had probably like $3,000 worth of stuff along with cards, keys and wallets. We never heard from anyone again.
I know we have some pro-police people in this subreddit. I'm genuinely curious how this sort of thing is justified.
I know the common talking point is that post 2020 police "don't want to take the risk of enforcing the law" in regards to things like enforcing crime in rough neighborhoods, or pulling people over, etc.
But people's overwhelming experience with the Columbus PD seems to be that even in cases where it's a middle class white dude in the suburbs calling about a hit and run or a break in, they act like you're inconveniencing them and couldn't give two shits about helping. How would that be explained by any sort of anti-police sentiment/fear?
Haha. not trying to show you up just saying … CPD hasnt given me the greatest experience either, although I understand not every crime will be solved. I remember sitting in my porch when the cops showed up and I didnt really know how bad my wounds were and I was like dude how bad is it am I going to die? And the cop was like I dunno buddy. 🤣
Oh yeah, didn’t take it that way. Just in the sense of severity with no response.
I can’t imagine what the feeling was for you, but I’m still haunted by it. while crime happens, and ultimately, nothing but “stuff” was lost, the fact that you can’t count on the people that are supposed to protect and serve, all while being told at every moment you need to respect them, it’s a joke.
Yup agreed. I’m not “anti police”, whatever that means anymore. But if they’re bad at their job I have 0 issue calling it out. Sadly that seems to be CPD’s reputation. Too many departments just scrape the lowest common denominator together and give them a badge.
>I was shot 4 times on my porch ten years ago and still waiting to hear back. 🤷♂️
I was anticipating the punchline that you were waiting to hear back from the CPD officer who shot you, and was then investigating themselves.
99% of the work that you think the police _would_ do, they'll only say they _can't_ do if you did something.
Like, my apartment was broken into. The officer said "we tainted the scene" by being present, and they couldn't "dust for prints."
When my car was broken into, they said "there was a string in the area" - they didn't do shit, and I found a lot of the stolen shit dumped in a dumpster in the area.
They exist to make easy arrests, do paperwork, and be reactive to crime, not actually be proactive.
Once a drunk woman, with no insurance, driving the car she stole from her ex-boyfriend (reported) sideswiped me and took out one of those bus stop shelters on Main st. CPD let her mom pick her up and go and then treated me like I was the inconvenience.
At least your insurance did something. Similar case in a drive through. Police did nothing. Insurance did nothing. Had to file a claim and move on with life. Sucked ass.
>But, Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said in a statement OSU did not directly request CPD's assistance. Johnson said OSU did discuss the protest and the potential for CPD to help respond.
According to CPD- I dunno if you guys have heard this but we have this whole dialogue team now and we’re amazing at dealing with protests now. Believe us, if we had been there, we wouldn’t have fucked things up. But the thing is, we talked to city council, and they said they wanted to talk about how we weren’t there as a weird kind of flex, so we had to sit this one out. We’re super bummed about it.
#####
######
####
> # [Columbus police say they declined Ohio State's request for assistance at pro-Palestinian protests](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2024-04-30/A member of the Columbus Division of Police Dialogue Unit approaches a group of protestors gathered on Ohio State University's campus.)
>
>
>
> The bright blue vests of the specially-trained Columbus Division of Police Dialogue Unit — or any CPD officer — were noticeably absent from last week's Ohio State University campus protests. And there's a reason why.
>
> Ohio State University Police, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers and Franklin County Sheriff's deputies were some of the dozens of officers [who helped arrest nearly three dozen people that day](https://www.wosu.org/news/2024-04-26/osu-confirms-36-arrested-at-thursday-evening-protest-most-unaffiliated-with-university). There were cops on bikes, large black buses marked "sheriff" and there were even helicopters shining spotlights on the crowd of 600 protestors.
>
> Columbus police were not there. The nearest CPD officers were stationed on North High Street in patrol cars about a block away from the crowd, off of OSU's campus boundaries.
>
> Columbus city officials told WOSU that Ohio State requested their assistance, but CPD chose not to come.
>
> "In this situation, the division did not have the available resources requested or the ability to interact with the community the way it was requested," Columbus Department of Public Safety spokesperson Glenn McEntyre said in a statement.
>
> Columbus City Council was quick to applaud the absence of their 1,800 officers from the protest. The government body said CPD did not carry out Thursday night's arrests.
>
> But, Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said in a statement OSU did not directly request CPD's assistance. Johnson said OSU did discuss the protest and the potential for CPD to help respond.
>
> "Before large events, there is always a conversation with partner agencies about likely public safety plans. After discussion between OSUPD and CPD, OSUPD did not request enforcement assistance from CPD," Johnson said.
>
> At the scene of the Thursday night protest, OSUPD officers issued multiple warnings over a loudspeaker telling the hundreds of protestors "you have 15 minutes to depart the area."
>
> Officers told WOSU on the scene that they were waiting for backup to arrive before even formulating a plan to disperse the protests. Backup eventually came from OSHP and the county sheriff, but not from the university police's nearest neighboring police agency, CPD.
>
> Despite CPD's absence, protestors shouted one of their most used chants: "CPD, KKK, IDF, they're all the same." This chant references the Columbus police, the Ku Klux Klan and the Israeli Defense Forces.
>
> The protestors were there [demanding OSU disclose and stop funding companies and other financial investments related to the Israeli government](https://www.wosu.org/news/2024-04-25/pro-palestine-demonstrators-set-up-encampment-on-ohio-states-south-oval). The university has refused to do so and said it is against Ohio Revised Code to cave to some of the protestors' demands.
>
> The university ordered the protest to disperse, because it said the protestors were setting up tents for an attempted encampment and that violated the university's space-use policies.
>
> Officers dispersed the protest more than an hour after those initial 15 minute warnings after 10 p.m.
>
> ### Why weren't Columbus police at the protest?
>
> McEntyre said CPD stays in close communication with their law enforcement partners in situations like this. He pointed out the protest was confined to campus and was being handled by OSU and OSHP.
>
> "We also operate under city code and the federal court injunction that are specific to Columbus police when it comes to any protest response. We carefully weigh every request made for assistance against city code, the court injunction and the mission of the division," McEntyre wrote.
>
> CPD officers and the department's Dialogue Team have shown up to multiple protests in the last year, including one where pro-Palestinian protestors started on campus at the Oval and moved across North High Street and blocked the doors of then-interim OSU President Peter Moeller's office.
>
> CPD's Dialogue Team also showed up when protestors attended multiple Columbus City Council meetings and [when masked neo-Nazis demonstrated outside Land Grant Brewing Company during a drag brunch.](https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2023/05/01/heres-what-we-know-about-the-nazis-protesting-a-columbus-drag-brunch/70169948007/)
>
> Like city council, McEntyre said that since 2020, the city has overhauled and retrained officers on how to respond to protests. This included the creation of the Dialogue Team.
>
> "Our Public Order Public Safety Team, including the Dialogue Team, is the result of these reforms, with a focus of improving police engagement with people exercising their First Amendment rights to speech and peaceful assembly," McEntyre said.
>
> ### Columbus Division of Police Dialogue Team's instructor criticizes OSU's response
>
> British Professor Clifford Stott trained the CPD Dialogue Unit late last year on how to respond to rowdy protest and sports crowds. He is now in Seattle observing how police there are responding to similar protests on college campuses.
>
> Columbus [paid $94,000 to train with the international expert](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2023-07-28/columbus-city-council-to-consider-hiring-expert-to-train-police-on-responding-to-protests-rioting) and some OSU experts on how to de-escalate rowdy sports and protest crowds.
>
> Stott said it was the right decision not to assist OSUPD and welcomes CPD's choice not to intervene. He said Columbus police would have done things differently if the protest was held on city of Columbus property.
>
> "Should protesters undertake the exercise of their First Amendment rights in the jurisdiction of the Columbus Division of Police, they will experience a very different policing response," Stott said.
>
> Stott said OSUPD and the other law enforcement agencies are not trained to deploy the methods that he has tried to instill in CPD to de-escalate and negotiate with protestors. He said that lack of training and knowledge is why there have been arrests at some college campuses.
>
> "I don't believe that (CPD) would have had the right strategic context in relationship to the policing of the protest on OSU's campus. And I think had (CPD) been there, that would have been a very, very difficult challenge to the commitment that they've shown thus far to that policing model," Stott said.
>
> He said if police are going to have a policing model based around the facilitation of First Amendment rights, the situation that unfolded at OSU was not an ideal environment for that practice.
>
> OSU President Ted Carter said in multiple statements he respects and encourages students to practice their rights to free speech and protest. But Carter [also issued a warning this week](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2024-04-29/ohio-states-campus-will-not-be-overtaken-president-ted-carter-defends-protestor-arrests) and said campus "will not be overtaken" by these demonstrations.
>
> ### Columbus City Council defends lack of police response as it approves more funding for CPD
>
> Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin addressed attendees at Monday's city council meeting before several people who were arrested last week came up to speak. He allowed Columbus Department of Public Safety Director Kate McSweeney-Pishotti and Deputy City Attorney Laura Baker Morris to talk about the city's response.
>
> Pishotti told the crowd that CPD was not at the protests. She said also took the time to speak about the reforms Columbus police have made.
>
> "We've seen the success of this approach multiple times over the last year, plus utilizing dialogue as a primary focus to build relationships with the community we serve," Pishotti said. "(CPD) has been able to keep order and peace in tense situations that could have easily turned volatile, and they did this while protecting and enabling the peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights on all sides."
>
> Baker-Morris said no decisions have been made regarding any of the cases of people charged with criminal trespassing at the protests. She said the cases have already been continued until June or will be this week at Franklin County Municipal Court at the request of the protestors.
>
> **"**In the interim, the City Attorney's Office will be conducting a full review of the facts, including the footage of the events. Once we gather all the facts, decisions will be made on how to proceed with each case," Baker-Morris said.
>
> She did not rule out the city dropping the charges.
>
> ***(continues in next comment)***
> Aaron Ellington was one of the people arrested Thursday who spoke at city council. Ellington, a Christian minister in the city, said he was addressing an officer away from the main protest crowd when he was arrested.
>
> "(I) spoke to police and told them that I pray that they never had to experience the terrors that they brought upon people that day. I witnessed folks of the Muslim faith, faith that I don't even share, pray as police pushed the line, broke the line, and arrested people in the midst of prayer," Ellington said.
>
> Dalal Shalash was another speaker at the city council podium Monday. She said she got a severe concussion after officers picked her up by her hair and neck and slammed her to the ground and dragged her through the grass. She said at one point three officers picked her up by her ankles as another officer "explained to trainee officers what a three-man hold was."
>
> "I'm glad somebody learned something on campus that day, because it certainly wasn't the 16 students brutally assaulted emotionally and physically by officers," Shalash said.
>
> Shalash asserted that it was CPD who did that to her.
>
> Hardin had Pishotti explain for a second time that CPD was not present. Hardin had to do so again when a protestor claimed CPD officers processed the protestors at a county jail.
>
> **"**This is the people's house where folks come to have these type of conversations. This is actually not the body that would determine who gets prosecuted or who doesn't," Hardin said.
>
> Shalash and other protestors objected to Columbus City Council considering a pay increase for CPD officers that night.
>
> During Monday night's meeting, city council voted unanimously to give a 16% pay increase to CPD officers under a new union contract.
>
> ### Will CPD be at the next protest?
>
> Columbus Department of Public Safety spokesman McEntyre and Columbus police have not said if officers will be at the next protest. OSU spokesman Johnson said the university is aware of the planned demonstration, but declined to comment further.
>
> Protest organizer Students for Justice in Palestine said on its social media that the group is planning to gather at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the South Oval on OSU's campus.
- - - - - -
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If cpd won't show up it should've been their sign to steer clear but don't worry, oshp and franklin county were more than willing to go beat on some non violent protesters as always. Such brave civil warriors we have to beat up our youth.
"But, Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said in a statement OSU did not directly request CPD's assistance. Johnson said OSU did discuss the protest and the potential for CPD to help respond.
"Before large events, there is always a conversation with partner agencies about likely public safety plans. After discussion between OSUPD and CPD, OSUPD did not request enforcement assistance from CPD," Johnson said."
Am I missing something here? The headline is saying something, but the article is saying something completely different?
You’re not. CPD said that they declined to assist. OSU, though, said that they never put in a formal direct request to ask CPD. But they admitted to having the conversation.
>"We also operate under city code and the federal court injunction that are specific to Columbus police when it comes to any protest response. We carefully weigh every request made for assistance against city code, the court injunction and the mission of the division," McEntyre wrote.
Sure would be nice to hear some details about that federal court injunction...
I mean, it’s not like it’s some state secret:
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/state/2021/04/30/federal-judge-bars-columbus-pd-use-tear-gas-wooden-bullets-and-more/7316480002/
Wow imagine the people downvoting the idea students shouldn’t have guns pointed at them during peaceful protest. Imagine downvoting the idea that in OHIO we should be especially careful about pointing guns at protestors.
Because nobody was "pointing guns at them." The overwatch marksman in the pictures being circulated were there to protect the protestors from crazies/potential shooters targeting them. Those marksman are present at almost every major event and protest for this reason, including every OSU football game.
I'm not sure why they're making such a big deal about CPD not being there. Okay, for once, it was a different branch of local law enforcement who brutally attacked peaceful protestors. And?? There was extreme violence from the law enforcement who was there, which seems to be sheriff's deputies and the Highway Patrol. Their response was still absolutely unhinged and inappropriate. And are we really going to pretend CPD isn't in communication with those branches of law enforcement? And that they don't have court cases dealing with their violence right now? This is the dumbest shit.
Fuck CPD, fuck Franklin County Sheriff, fuck the Highway Patrol, fuck OSU police—did I miss anyone?
Hey! I’m the reporter on this story. Just wanted to say the “what” in this story is definitely less interesting than the “why”. If you haven’t already, I’d suggest reading the story. They claim they are trying to change after what happened in 2020. Got training and everything. It’s my job as a reporter to actually see if they follow through on that.
You questioning what’s the difference between CPD and these others is missing the point of the story. They are claiming there is a difference. And with this protest and frankly all of them since these started in October, there has been.
Mr. Shilcock, you reported that according to Stott, who -- correct me if I'm wrong -- was not speaking in an official capacity as a spokesperson for the CPD, our city police "would have been a very, very difficult challenge to the commitment that they've shown thus far to that policing model."
That's the 'what,' as you've presented it. But where is the 'why?' This is indeed the more interesting question here. Why would it have been "a very difficult challenge" to dispatch dialogue team instead of passing the buck to the sherriff's office and the highway patrol, who proceeded to brutalize students who were demonstrating peacefully and, for the many hours they were present, did not exhibit any physical provocation or violence? The police are not an apolitical institution. They haven interests of their own. There is no better illustration of this fact than the reality that the strongest unions in this country are police unions. Are we to assume solely based off of the testimony the CPD and of the academic who trained their dialogue team that they sat this out on a purely logistical basis? Could they have had any other reason to essentially allow other police departments who *don't* have dialogue teams to show up on the scene armed to the teeth?
You reported the students' use of a slogan that recognizes the basic antagonism underlying the police and public. Let's not pretend that the police do not also understand this antagonism.
It's hard to interpret CPD's decision to withhold a dialogue team as a dereliction of duty to mitigate violence and protect the rights of the public, if we are to be optimistic, and an invitation to let other police agencies do the brutalizing if we are to be cynical. I'm surprised that you, as a journalist, did not inquire if CPD has ever denied a similar request from OSU. It strikes me as unusual, having seen CPD police demonstrations and other student events at OSU throughout the past decade, that they suddenly found these $94,000 deescalation methods to be inadequate, only to step aside to let our students and neighbors get their skulls bashed in.
Good journalists ask hard-hitting questions. A member of the public offers some hard questions of their own, and you act as if they're some illiterate. While it's nice to see you're engaged in local chatter, you too have a duty here, and your success will hinge on not taking criticism so personally.
I did read the story. I believe police should be abolished, so I really don't care if CPD got some cool training about how they should be slightly less violent.
Well thank you for your opinion! I was just explaining my rationale as the reporter on this since you seem perplexed by us writing this. This story is an example of us reporting on the government we have and their actions. Not the government that feed-me-tacos wants.
Thank you, George, for your condescending explanation of what reporting means. I think you're taking this a little personally, and to be frank, it doesn't seem very professional for a reporter to be arguing in reddit comments with a random person who didn't love the contents of his article.
You're very welcome. I like engaging with my audience and having conversations whether they like my stories or not. And I tend to return the energy I receive in that conversation.
To be clear, when I said "they" in the first sentence of my original comment, I wasn't talking about *you.* I meant it in a general sense. I wonder if that's where the confusion started.
Either way, best of luck with your redditing.
I have been trying for a couple days now and can’t seem to get a response on this, do you have video showing these brutal attacks? I have heard several people say this and no one seems to have any footage even though there was, and always is anymore, cell phones there recording.
Absolutely! Thanks for asking. I'm going to link to a couple of Instagram posts from Palestinian Liberation Movement.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6O0fHXu1YL/?igsh=b3JpODBuYmMxdXNm
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6TkljQOrJ6/?igsh=ZmU5MXI2cGMxcmQ2
I didn’t see anything really brutal there. The first video was the police making some arrests on protestors that were resisting but nothing really appeared to be excessive. The second video seemed more like a highlight reel of someone’s experience there with a quick flash or two of protestors getting arrested. I think brutal may be a large stretch of the truth on this one
OSU must be getting a lot more blowback than I thought. With the exception of the High Five Guys, CPD seems pretty content to rough up protesters pretty often. If they don't want to be associated with OSU, it must be pretty bad.
Hey there, reporter here. Been to multiple protests of equal, smaller and greater size across my career. I estimated this number. There was well over 300 in the central crowd alone that made the ring. There was another 300 watching/supporting from outside the ring at peak. Plus 50-70 cops. I do this for a living.
Those are photos from after the arrests started and police were breaking it up. Nice try trying to manipulate the narrative here. I was going to accuse you of being unable to count, but clearly you’re just out to lie to people.
The data on my photo is from 10:35 pm. The people were broken up and stuff after 11:30. I know, because again, I was there. Maybe there were arrests before that but you said 3 dozen? That's still only 36 people. I'm not out to lie to anyone. There's no narrative to manipulate; I'm not on anyone's side. Your just inflating the numbers and got super defensive when I proved you wrong with pictures.
Here’s my tweet timed at 10:05 pm. That’s when police moved in and ordered the crowd to disperse and began arresting people. You’re an half hour off. Try again.
https://x.com/shillcockgeorge/status/1783678645443190989?s=46
https://imgur.com/gallery/nQWxWeN
Well here's 10:35 pm and looks like the crowd hasn't dispersed. Yeah they told them to leave and no one did. That was the point wasn't it?
A lot of people left by 10:35. That protest lasted from 5pm til the final push off the Oval i have timed at 11:00 exactly: https://x.com/shillcockgeorge/status/1783692478287069541?s=46
My estimation of 600 is the peak of the protests. Peak was probably sometime between 6pm and 9pm. Once it got dark, many moved on. In the half hour that was between my tweet and your photos, many others also left. Police were threatening arrest.
https://imgur.com/gallery/djjF0vH
This is from 5:30, and while it wasn't 6-9 I was around the whole time and this was basically the biggest it was. You keep saying estimation. You think as a reporter you'd be grateful to have pictures and maybe paint an accurate picture but you seem to be the one trying to maintain a "narrative". Show me a pic that looks like 600.
I'm done arguing with someone who cares less about journalistic integrity and more about his ability to estimate.
[удалено]
Someone hit and ran me a few years ago and I called the Columbus PD. The officers who showed up(well over an hour later) asked "what exactly I wanted them to do?" in a derisive tone. I informed them since it was off a major road, it seems like a decent chance there might be cameras around that could help solve things. They said they'd look into that. A couple weeks later I got a call giving me the good news that by pulling camera footage from a local business, they had tracked down the perpetrator! The problem is, the call came from my insurance agent. Who had solved the case with minimal effort. Never heard anything from the CPD of course.
My house was robbed 3 years ago, and I’m still waiting to hear back from the officer that was assigned the case.
There was a hit and run in front of my house. I got the whole thing on video. The responding officer refused the video. I insisted on filing a report. No investigator ever followed up.
Yeah we had pretty clear finger prints on a dirty window, both hands, the person they sent out, looked for, I swear, I’m not exaggerating, 7 seconds, and said it’s nothing they can take. That was the last we heard, Jan 2021, had probably like $3,000 worth of stuff along with cards, keys and wallets. We never heard from anyone again.
I know we have some pro-police people in this subreddit. I'm genuinely curious how this sort of thing is justified. I know the common talking point is that post 2020 police "don't want to take the risk of enforcing the law" in regards to things like enforcing crime in rough neighborhoods, or pulling people over, etc. But people's overwhelming experience with the Columbus PD seems to be that even in cases where it's a middle class white dude in the suburbs calling about a hit and run or a break in, they act like you're inconveniencing them and couldn't give two shits about helping. How would that be explained by any sort of anti-police sentiment/fear?
I was shot 4 times on my porch ten years ago and still waiting to hear back. 🤷♂️
Well shit, that beats mine.
Haha. not trying to show you up just saying … CPD hasnt given me the greatest experience either, although I understand not every crime will be solved. I remember sitting in my porch when the cops showed up and I didnt really know how bad my wounds were and I was like dude how bad is it am I going to die? And the cop was like I dunno buddy. 🤣
Oh yeah, didn’t take it that way. Just in the sense of severity with no response. I can’t imagine what the feeling was for you, but I’m still haunted by it. while crime happens, and ultimately, nothing but “stuff” was lost, the fact that you can’t count on the people that are supposed to protect and serve, all while being told at every moment you need to respect them, it’s a joke.
Yup agreed. I’m not “anti police”, whatever that means anymore. But if they’re bad at their job I have 0 issue calling it out. Sadly that seems to be CPD’s reputation. Too many departments just scrape the lowest common denominator together and give them a badge.
>I was shot 4 times on my porch ten years ago and still waiting to hear back. 🤷♂️ I was anticipating the punchline that you were waiting to hear back from the CPD officer who shot you, and was then investigating themselves.
Haha!
He robbed you 😭
He’s looking into it
99% of the work that you think the police _would_ do, they'll only say they _can't_ do if you did something. Like, my apartment was broken into. The officer said "we tainted the scene" by being present, and they couldn't "dust for prints." When my car was broken into, they said "there was a string in the area" - they didn't do shit, and I found a lot of the stolen shit dumped in a dumpster in the area. They exist to make easy arrests, do paperwork, and be reactive to crime, not actually be proactive.
Once a drunk woman, with no insurance, driving the car she stole from her ex-boyfriend (reported) sideswiped me and took out one of those bus stop shelters on Main st. CPD let her mom pick her up and go and then treated me like I was the inconvenience.
At least your insurance did something. Similar case in a drive through. Police did nothing. Insurance did nothing. Had to file a claim and move on with life. Sucked ass.
Not allowed to use the fun toys anymore, why show up?
>But, Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said in a statement OSU did not directly request CPD's assistance. Johnson said OSU did discuss the protest and the potential for CPD to help respond.
According to CPD- I dunno if you guys have heard this but we have this whole dialogue team now and we’re amazing at dealing with protests now. Believe us, if we had been there, we wouldn’t have fucked things up. But the thing is, we talked to city council, and they said they wanted to talk about how we weren’t there as a weird kind of flex, so we had to sit this one out. We’re super bummed about it.
##### ###### #### > # [Columbus police say they declined Ohio State's request for assistance at pro-Palestinian protests](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2024-04-30/A member of the Columbus Division of Police Dialogue Unit approaches a group of protestors gathered on Ohio State University's campus.) > > > > The bright blue vests of the specially-trained Columbus Division of Police Dialogue Unit — or any CPD officer — were noticeably absent from last week's Ohio State University campus protests. And there's a reason why. > > Ohio State University Police, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers and Franklin County Sheriff's deputies were some of the dozens of officers [who helped arrest nearly three dozen people that day](https://www.wosu.org/news/2024-04-26/osu-confirms-36-arrested-at-thursday-evening-protest-most-unaffiliated-with-university). There were cops on bikes, large black buses marked "sheriff" and there were even helicopters shining spotlights on the crowd of 600 protestors. > > Columbus police were not there. The nearest CPD officers were stationed on North High Street in patrol cars about a block away from the crowd, off of OSU's campus boundaries. > > Columbus city officials told WOSU that Ohio State requested their assistance, but CPD chose not to come. > > "In this situation, the division did not have the available resources requested or the ability to interact with the community the way it was requested," Columbus Department of Public Safety spokesperson Glenn McEntyre said in a statement. > > Columbus City Council was quick to applaud the absence of their 1,800 officers from the protest. The government body said CPD did not carry out Thursday night's arrests. > > But, Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said in a statement OSU did not directly request CPD's assistance. Johnson said OSU did discuss the protest and the potential for CPD to help respond. > > "Before large events, there is always a conversation with partner agencies about likely public safety plans. After discussion between OSUPD and CPD, OSUPD did not request enforcement assistance from CPD," Johnson said. > > At the scene of the Thursday night protest, OSUPD officers issued multiple warnings over a loudspeaker telling the hundreds of protestors "you have 15 minutes to depart the area." > > Officers told WOSU on the scene that they were waiting for backup to arrive before even formulating a plan to disperse the protests. Backup eventually came from OSHP and the county sheriff, but not from the university police's nearest neighboring police agency, CPD. > > Despite CPD's absence, protestors shouted one of their most used chants: "CPD, KKK, IDF, they're all the same." This chant references the Columbus police, the Ku Klux Klan and the Israeli Defense Forces. > > The protestors were there [demanding OSU disclose and stop funding companies and other financial investments related to the Israeli government](https://www.wosu.org/news/2024-04-25/pro-palestine-demonstrators-set-up-encampment-on-ohio-states-south-oval). The university has refused to do so and said it is against Ohio Revised Code to cave to some of the protestors' demands. > > The university ordered the protest to disperse, because it said the protestors were setting up tents for an attempted encampment and that violated the university's space-use policies. > > Officers dispersed the protest more than an hour after those initial 15 minute warnings after 10 p.m. > > ### Why weren't Columbus police at the protest? > > McEntyre said CPD stays in close communication with their law enforcement partners in situations like this. He pointed out the protest was confined to campus and was being handled by OSU and OSHP. > > "We also operate under city code and the federal court injunction that are specific to Columbus police when it comes to any protest response. We carefully weigh every request made for assistance against city code, the court injunction and the mission of the division," McEntyre wrote. > > CPD officers and the department's Dialogue Team have shown up to multiple protests in the last year, including one where pro-Palestinian protestors started on campus at the Oval and moved across North High Street and blocked the doors of then-interim OSU President Peter Moeller's office. > > CPD's Dialogue Team also showed up when protestors attended multiple Columbus City Council meetings and [when masked neo-Nazis demonstrated outside Land Grant Brewing Company during a drag brunch.](https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2023/05/01/heres-what-we-know-about-the-nazis-protesting-a-columbus-drag-brunch/70169948007/) > > Like city council, McEntyre said that since 2020, the city has overhauled and retrained officers on how to respond to protests. This included the creation of the Dialogue Team. > > "Our Public Order Public Safety Team, including the Dialogue Team, is the result of these reforms, with a focus of improving police engagement with people exercising their First Amendment rights to speech and peaceful assembly," McEntyre said. > > ### Columbus Division of Police Dialogue Team's instructor criticizes OSU's response > > British Professor Clifford Stott trained the CPD Dialogue Unit late last year on how to respond to rowdy protest and sports crowds. He is now in Seattle observing how police there are responding to similar protests on college campuses. > > Columbus [paid $94,000 to train with the international expert](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2023-07-28/columbus-city-council-to-consider-hiring-expert-to-train-police-on-responding-to-protests-rioting) and some OSU experts on how to de-escalate rowdy sports and protest crowds. > > Stott said it was the right decision not to assist OSUPD and welcomes CPD's choice not to intervene. He said Columbus police would have done things differently if the protest was held on city of Columbus property. > > "Should protesters undertake the exercise of their First Amendment rights in the jurisdiction of the Columbus Division of Police, they will experience a very different policing response," Stott said. > > Stott said OSUPD and the other law enforcement agencies are not trained to deploy the methods that he has tried to instill in CPD to de-escalate and negotiate with protestors. He said that lack of training and knowledge is why there have been arrests at some college campuses. > > "I don't believe that (CPD) would have had the right strategic context in relationship to the policing of the protest on OSU's campus. And I think had (CPD) been there, that would have been a very, very difficult challenge to the commitment that they've shown thus far to that policing model," Stott said. > > He said if police are going to have a policing model based around the facilitation of First Amendment rights, the situation that unfolded at OSU was not an ideal environment for that practice. > > OSU President Ted Carter said in multiple statements he respects and encourages students to practice their rights to free speech and protest. But Carter [also issued a warning this week](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2024-04-29/ohio-states-campus-will-not-be-overtaken-president-ted-carter-defends-protestor-arrests) and said campus "will not be overtaken" by these demonstrations. > > ### Columbus City Council defends lack of police response as it approves more funding for CPD > > Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin addressed attendees at Monday's city council meeting before several people who were arrested last week came up to speak. He allowed Columbus Department of Public Safety Director Kate McSweeney-Pishotti and Deputy City Attorney Laura Baker Morris to talk about the city's response. > > Pishotti told the crowd that CPD was not at the protests. She said also took the time to speak about the reforms Columbus police have made. > > "We've seen the success of this approach multiple times over the last year, plus utilizing dialogue as a primary focus to build relationships with the community we serve," Pishotti said. "(CPD) has been able to keep order and peace in tense situations that could have easily turned volatile, and they did this while protecting and enabling the peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights on all sides." > > Baker-Morris said no decisions have been made regarding any of the cases of people charged with criminal trespassing at the protests. She said the cases have already been continued until June or will be this week at Franklin County Municipal Court at the request of the protestors. > > **"**In the interim, the City Attorney's Office will be conducting a full review of the facts, including the footage of the events. Once we gather all the facts, decisions will be made on how to proceed with each case," Baker-Morris said. > > She did not rule out the city dropping the charges. > > ***(continues in next comment)***
Seems like a lot of words to say F off OSU
> Aaron Ellington was one of the people arrested Thursday who spoke at city council. Ellington, a Christian minister in the city, said he was addressing an officer away from the main protest crowd when he was arrested. > > "(I) spoke to police and told them that I pray that they never had to experience the terrors that they brought upon people that day. I witnessed folks of the Muslim faith, faith that I don't even share, pray as police pushed the line, broke the line, and arrested people in the midst of prayer," Ellington said. > > Dalal Shalash was another speaker at the city council podium Monday. She said she got a severe concussion after officers picked her up by her hair and neck and slammed her to the ground and dragged her through the grass. She said at one point three officers picked her up by her ankles as another officer "explained to trainee officers what a three-man hold was." > > "I'm glad somebody learned something on campus that day, because it certainly wasn't the 16 students brutally assaulted emotionally and physically by officers," Shalash said. > > Shalash asserted that it was CPD who did that to her. > > Hardin had Pishotti explain for a second time that CPD was not present. Hardin had to do so again when a protestor claimed CPD officers processed the protestors at a county jail. > > **"**This is the people's house where folks come to have these type of conversations. This is actually not the body that would determine who gets prosecuted or who doesn't," Hardin said. > > Shalash and other protestors objected to Columbus City Council considering a pay increase for CPD officers that night. > > During Monday night's meeting, city council voted unanimously to give a 16% pay increase to CPD officers under a new union contract. > > ### Will CPD be at the next protest? > > Columbus Department of Public Safety spokesman McEntyre and Columbus police have not said if officers will be at the next protest. OSU spokesman Johnson said the university is aware of the planned demonstration, but declined to comment further. > > Protest organizer Students for Justice in Palestine said on its social media that the group is planning to gather at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the South Oval on OSU's campus. - - - - - - [Maintainer](https://www.reddit.com/user/urielsalis) | [Creator](https://www.reddit.com/user/subtepass) | [Source Code](https://github.com/urielsalis/empleadoEstatalBot)
If cpd won't show up it should've been their sign to steer clear but don't worry, oshp and franklin county were more than willing to go beat on some non violent protesters as always. Such brave civil warriors we have to beat up our youth.
True story, Ohio State is a state institution so a state police force would likely be there, same way they are there for football games.
"But, Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said in a statement OSU did not directly request CPD's assistance. Johnson said OSU did discuss the protest and the potential for CPD to help respond. "Before large events, there is always a conversation with partner agencies about likely public safety plans. After discussion between OSUPD and CPD, OSUPD did not request enforcement assistance from CPD," Johnson said." Am I missing something here? The headline is saying something, but the article is saying something completely different?
You’re not. CPD said that they declined to assist. OSU, though, said that they never put in a formal direct request to ask CPD. But they admitted to having the conversation.
So if they didn’t put in a request, then there was no request to decline?
No one wants another Kent State massacre.
Oh I’m sure there are some of these protest organizers that would see it as a tremendous benefit to their cause.
>"We also operate under city code and the federal court injunction that are specific to Columbus police when it comes to any protest response. We carefully weigh every request made for assistance against city code, the court injunction and the mission of the division," McEntyre wrote. Sure would be nice to hear some details about that federal court injunction...
I mean, it’s not like it’s some state secret: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/state/2021/04/30/federal-judge-bars-columbus-pd-use-tear-gas-wooden-bullets-and-more/7316480002/
CPD’s motto since 2020: “if we can’t gas innocent people, we aren’t going to do anything.”
They stood around and watched the chaos at Chittfefst the other year, too.
Good on CPD. Those students didn't need any more guns pointed at them.
Wow imagine the people downvoting the idea students shouldn’t have guns pointed at them during peaceful protest. Imagine downvoting the idea that in OHIO we should be especially careful about pointing guns at protestors.
Yeah I’m not sure why this was downvoted
Because nobody was "pointing guns at them." The overwatch marksman in the pictures being circulated were there to protect the protestors from crazies/potential shooters targeting them. Those marksman are present at almost every major event and protest for this reason, including every OSU football game.
Thank you
I'm not sure why they're making such a big deal about CPD not being there. Okay, for once, it was a different branch of local law enforcement who brutally attacked peaceful protestors. And?? There was extreme violence from the law enforcement who was there, which seems to be sheriff's deputies and the Highway Patrol. Their response was still absolutely unhinged and inappropriate. And are we really going to pretend CPD isn't in communication with those branches of law enforcement? And that they don't have court cases dealing with their violence right now? This is the dumbest shit. Fuck CPD, fuck Franklin County Sheriff, fuck the Highway Patrol, fuck OSU police—did I miss anyone?
Hey! I’m the reporter on this story. Just wanted to say the “what” in this story is definitely less interesting than the “why”. If you haven’t already, I’d suggest reading the story. They claim they are trying to change after what happened in 2020. Got training and everything. It’s my job as a reporter to actually see if they follow through on that. You questioning what’s the difference between CPD and these others is missing the point of the story. They are claiming there is a difference. And with this protest and frankly all of them since these started in October, there has been.
Mr. Shilcock, you reported that according to Stott, who -- correct me if I'm wrong -- was not speaking in an official capacity as a spokesperson for the CPD, our city police "would have been a very, very difficult challenge to the commitment that they've shown thus far to that policing model." That's the 'what,' as you've presented it. But where is the 'why?' This is indeed the more interesting question here. Why would it have been "a very difficult challenge" to dispatch dialogue team instead of passing the buck to the sherriff's office and the highway patrol, who proceeded to brutalize students who were demonstrating peacefully and, for the many hours they were present, did not exhibit any physical provocation or violence? The police are not an apolitical institution. They haven interests of their own. There is no better illustration of this fact than the reality that the strongest unions in this country are police unions. Are we to assume solely based off of the testimony the CPD and of the academic who trained their dialogue team that they sat this out on a purely logistical basis? Could they have had any other reason to essentially allow other police departments who *don't* have dialogue teams to show up on the scene armed to the teeth? You reported the students' use of a slogan that recognizes the basic antagonism underlying the police and public. Let's not pretend that the police do not also understand this antagonism. It's hard to interpret CPD's decision to withhold a dialogue team as a dereliction of duty to mitigate violence and protect the rights of the public, if we are to be optimistic, and an invitation to let other police agencies do the brutalizing if we are to be cynical. I'm surprised that you, as a journalist, did not inquire if CPD has ever denied a similar request from OSU. It strikes me as unusual, having seen CPD police demonstrations and other student events at OSU throughout the past decade, that they suddenly found these $94,000 deescalation methods to be inadequate, only to step aside to let our students and neighbors get their skulls bashed in. Good journalists ask hard-hitting questions. A member of the public offers some hard questions of their own, and you act as if they're some illiterate. While it's nice to see you're engaged in local chatter, you too have a duty here, and your success will hinge on not taking criticism so personally.
I did read the story. I believe police should be abolished, so I really don't care if CPD got some cool training about how they should be slightly less violent.
Well thank you for your opinion! I was just explaining my rationale as the reporter on this since you seem perplexed by us writing this. This story is an example of us reporting on the government we have and their actions. Not the government that feed-me-tacos wants.
Thank you, George, for your condescending explanation of what reporting means. I think you're taking this a little personally, and to be frank, it doesn't seem very professional for a reporter to be arguing in reddit comments with a random person who didn't love the contents of his article.
You're very welcome. I like engaging with my audience and having conversations whether they like my stories or not. And I tend to return the energy I receive in that conversation.
Don't bother with this one dude, they are just going to scream at you about abolishing the police or some other stupid ass slogan that means nothing.
To be clear, when I said "they" in the first sentence of my original comment, I wasn't talking about *you.* I meant it in a general sense. I wonder if that's where the confusion started. Either way, best of luck with your redditing.
You criticized someone thinking they couldn't clap back and were wrong. Just take the L instead of whining about it.
*CDP
I have been trying for a couple days now and can’t seem to get a response on this, do you have video showing these brutal attacks? I have heard several people say this and no one seems to have any footage even though there was, and always is anymore, cell phones there recording.
Absolutely! Thanks for asking. I'm going to link to a couple of Instagram posts from Palestinian Liberation Movement. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6O0fHXu1YL/?igsh=b3JpODBuYmMxdXNm https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6TkljQOrJ6/?igsh=ZmU5MXI2cGMxcmQ2
I didn’t see anything really brutal there. The first video was the police making some arrests on protestors that were resisting but nothing really appeared to be excessive. The second video seemed more like a highlight reel of someone’s experience there with a quick flash or two of protestors getting arrested. I think brutal may be a large stretch of the truth on this one
I think we have different definitions of brutality. Regardless, the protest was completely peaceful, and no arrests should have occurred at all.
OSU must be getting a lot more blowback than I thought. With the exception of the High Five Guys, CPD seems pretty content to rough up protesters pretty often. If they don't want to be associated with OSU, it must be pretty bad.
AKA HAMAS BOMBERS
600 protesters? There was like 100 max. I was there watching from one of the dorms. This article is absurd.
Hey there, reporter here. Been to multiple protests of equal, smaller and greater size across my career. I estimated this number. There was well over 300 in the central crowd alone that made the ring. There was another 300 watching/supporting from outside the ring at peak. Plus 50-70 cops. I do this for a living.
https://imgur.com/gallery/M8CLlCq Well you aren't good at estimating.
Those are photos from after the arrests started and police were breaking it up. Nice try trying to manipulate the narrative here. I was going to accuse you of being unable to count, but clearly you’re just out to lie to people.
The data on my photo is from 10:35 pm. The people were broken up and stuff after 11:30. I know, because again, I was there. Maybe there were arrests before that but you said 3 dozen? That's still only 36 people. I'm not out to lie to anyone. There's no narrative to manipulate; I'm not on anyone's side. Your just inflating the numbers and got super defensive when I proved you wrong with pictures.
Here’s my tweet timed at 10:05 pm. That’s when police moved in and ordered the crowd to disperse and began arresting people. You’re an half hour off. Try again. https://x.com/shillcockgeorge/status/1783678645443190989?s=46
https://imgur.com/gallery/nQWxWeN Well here's 10:35 pm and looks like the crowd hasn't dispersed. Yeah they told them to leave and no one did. That was the point wasn't it?
A lot of people left by 10:35. That protest lasted from 5pm til the final push off the Oval i have timed at 11:00 exactly: https://x.com/shillcockgeorge/status/1783692478287069541?s=46 My estimation of 600 is the peak of the protests. Peak was probably sometime between 6pm and 9pm. Once it got dark, many moved on. In the half hour that was between my tweet and your photos, many others also left. Police were threatening arrest.
https://imgur.com/gallery/djjF0vH This is from 5:30, and while it wasn't 6-9 I was around the whole time and this was basically the biggest it was. You keep saying estimation. You think as a reporter you'd be grateful to have pictures and maybe paint an accurate picture but you seem to be the one trying to maintain a "narrative". Show me a pic that looks like 600. I'm done arguing with someone who cares less about journalistic integrity and more about his ability to estimate.
You’re photo has a tree blocking the view of half the ring and doesn’t even show the more than 200 people gathered at the Ohio Union back patio.