Explanation
BACKGROUND: The policing of First Amendment crowd events has been a major driver of recent challenges to police legitimacy both in Columbus and nationwide. In response to the civil unrest of 2020, police agencies across the US have therefore been re-evaluating their crowd management strategies. Accordingly, the Columbus Division of Police has developed partnership projects between Crowd and Conflict Management Ltd (CCM Ltd), the Columbus Division of Police (CDP), The Ohio State University (OSU), Keele University, and the City of Columbus.
ENABLE Columbus which was the first phase of this partnership was authorized via ordinance 2167-2023 passed on 7/31/2023. ENABLE Columbus aims to utilize this knowledge production partnership to embed and enhance the CDP’s new science-led approach to crowd policing, develop new research expertise based at OSU, gather primary data on the effectiveness and limitations of the new approach, use this evidence to further enhance CDP’s crowd management strategies, foster dialogue between police and demonstrators, help safeguard First Amendment rights, and position the City of Columbus as providing the nationally leading approach to crowd management policing.
This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Public Safety to enter into contract with CCM Ltd. and enter into a separate contract with The Ohio State University for the implementation of Project LEGACY, a science-based approach to policing and the management of police legitimacy. The scope of work and specific tasks and deliverables by OSU are on EXHIBIT A and specific tasks and deliverables by CCM Ltd are on EXHIBIT B, attached to this legislation.
Comprising the phases of ENABLE, UNVEIL, and FORTIFY, Project LEGACY aims to reshape policing paradigms through comprehensive knowledge co-production strategies, partnerships and impacts. The three phases are outlined below.
The ENABLE Columbus work program will continue from phase one by building o...
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