Trash-talking officer receives reprimand

A Columbus police officer has received a written reprimand after he made comments caught on his body camera about how he would have choked a resisting suspect last month.

Officer Joseph Bogard spoke on Sept. 1 outside a Driving Park neighborhood convenience store after 32-year-old Timothy Davis, who was wanted on arrest warrants, was taken into custody by several responding officers after allegedly resisting arrest.

As Bogard and another officer were leaving the scene, Bogard said he would have told Davis,”I’m going to for real arm-bar you, and then when that still doesn’t work, I’m going to choke the life out of you. Then while you’re drooling on yourself, I’ll handcuff you.”

As a result, Bogard, 32, was placed on desk duty during the investigation before going back to patrol duty and getting a written reprimand from Chief Kim Jacobs last week for conduct unbecoming.

The case gained notoriety after part of the responding officers’ struggle to take Davis into custody was caught on cellphone video by a witness. The video was circulated on social media and got the attention of social-justice organizations pushing for policing reforms, including how officers use force.

Bogard’s comments were aired publicly after media outlets made records requests for all body-camera video of the incident.

Bogard, who has been in the division for four years, had been wearing a body camera for about two months when the incident occurred.

By next year, the city estimates, 1,300 officers will be wearing the cameras.

Bogard previously apologized through a union representative for the language he used.