Ohio faith leaders and police reform advocates call for DOJ investigation into Columbus policing

Ohio faith leaders and police reform advocates are calling on the federal government to launch a "pattern or practice" investigation into the Columbus Division of Police, rather than review it as the Justice Department said it would last week.

"As people of faith, we demand more than a review. We need a reckoning that transforms law enforcement into a public safety department which cares for, serves, and protects all of its citizens," the faith leaders said in a petition addressed to the Justice Department and signed by 107 people. Faith in Life, an advocacy group supporting the request, said the petition was delivered Thursday to the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

The petition asks the Justice Department to investigate the police department's hiring process and discipline, as well as union contracts and allegations of racial injustice and police aggression.

“It’s clear to me that there are patterns of systemic racism within the department, which leads to practices of excessive force, biased policing and unconstitutional practices by the Columbus police," one of the petition's signees, Rev. Tim Ahrens, senior minister of First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Columbus, said during a virtual press conference Thursday.

The call comes one week after the Justice Department agreed to a request from Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther to review the police division's practices. It also follows an announcement from the Justice Department this week that it is setting new rules for how the court-appointed federal monitors who oversee its police reform efforts will operate.