The Lima Safety Services continues to look at options to investigate complaints against Lima police officers.
The Lima Chapter of the NAACP is asking that an independent agency be used to investigate complaints of excessive force, instead of an internal investigation within the department. But police union officials and administration say that there are already checks and balances in place to look at complaints to determine if the officer was in the wrong or not. Councilman Derry Glenn says that all options are on the table and he is going to ask the chief mediator from Dayton, Ohio to come to Lima to brief the committee and the community on their procedure to handle these kinds of complaints through communication between all parties involved.
“Our main goal is to work on putting something together that will be a win-win for both sides, administration, NAACP and plus city council. This is a lot of work, this is no overnight thing, we don’t want to put a bandage on it and move on. That is the reason why we are taking a longer with this," said Derry Glenn, 6th Ward Councilman.
Councilman Jamie Dixon is asking data be collected from police reports involving interaction between the community and officers to get a snapshot of the extent that police relations are in the city. The Safety Services committee will continue to look at the suggestions at their next meeting on April 2nd.
