LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Board wouldn’t be qualified to review city police
Review boards for licensed and trained professionals are made up of field peers, requiring experienced insight of what a professional in the field would or would not do. Medical review boards are made of doctors and nurses; judicial review boards of judges; attorney review boards of attorneys. When a professional is in front of a review board, it is a very serious matter with his or her professional and personal life at stake, as is the organization and profession.
No civilian has the background to say, “I would have done that differently.” That view requires academy training and actual field experience.
A board whose majority are untrained and unqualified are very likely to succumb to the court of public opinion. Any civilian board member should be required to complete the Columbus Police Academy and multiple ride tours throughout their board seat.
Records from past review boards and courts show that Columbus Division of Police never “cut a break for a brother in blue” when the officer is in the wrong. Past reviews, including the most recent of vice officer Andrew Mitchell, have resulted in officer indictments, terminations and significant suspensions. Columbus police officers do not stand up for "bad cops."
Please say no to yet another movement to undermine a police department that has served this city so well.
Patrick Mingarelle, Dublin