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Updated 04.04.12 Good police practices, thorough
training, carefully crafted policies, appropriate allocation of resources, and strong
political and professional leadership can ensure public safety and prevent abuses in
encounters between police officers and citizens.
What's happening in Ohio
Racially Biased Policing and Excessive Use of Force in
Cleveland
The Cleveland Police Department has recently been criticized for several officers’
prolific use of non-deadly force and for
failing to review incident reports fully. This criticism after
two
officers were charged with assault for beating a man during an arrest.
In addition, the ACLU of Ohio is concerned the Cleveland Police Department may employ
some racially biases policing methods. A June 2011 report, "Overcharging, Overspending,
Overlooking: Cuyahoga County's Costly War on Drugs", describes the targeting of
African American communities for patrols and sweeps, resulting in disproportionate
rates of arrest and incarceration for people of color.
The ACLU of Ohio also represented two Clevelanders who were victims of racially biased
policing in July 2010 in City of Cleveland v. Alvin Williams and City of
Cleveland v. Chanel Christian. As a result of the incident, the Mayor agreed to
permit federal mediators to provide training to business owners and police to avoid
any similar incidents. For more details about this case, visit our
legal docket.
Use of Technology to Profile
Police departments around the state have begun to use web sites like Facebook and
MySpace to monitor people’s online profiles and identify individuals whom they
believe engage in illegal activities.
Unfortunately, many innocent individuals are wrongfully identified as criminals because
police have relied only on flawed profiling techniques rather than generating clear
evidence that the person is engaged in illegal activity.
Local Enforcement of Federal Immigration Laws
The Ohio General Assembly is considering Senate Bill 98,
which would allow local police to enforce immigration laws. The ACLU of Ohio
opposes such efforts because
they encourage racial profiling and causes resources to be diverted from dealing with
local crime. More information is available on our
Immigrant Rights page.
What’s happening Nationally
Trayvon Martin Shooting
On February 26, 2012, Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George
Zimmerman, a man who purportedly worked with a local neighborhood watch association.
Zimmerman claimed Martin assaulted him, while other witnesses and 911 tapes suggested
that Zimmerman stalked and confronted Martin. Sanford Police Department officials
investigated the incident but did not arrest Zimmerman because of Florida’s
“Stand Your Ground” law, which gives individuals wide latitude to claim
self-defense for shootings.
Tends of thousands of people nationwide have protested Trayvon Martin’s death and
the subsequent investigation by local law enforcement officers. The ACLU of Florida
has publicly questioned the mismanagement of the police investigation. Locally,
the ACLU of Ohio rallied
with students and activists to call for
greater discussion of race and justice issues. One local student wrote a poem in honor of Trayvon Martin.
Resources
Visit our Drug Policy,
Juvenile Justice,
Criminal Justice,
Immigrant Rights, and
Racial Justice issues pages for more
information about our justice system.
Check out our Publications
page for more resources on your rights during a police encounter.
Anatomy of an Injustice: A Lawyer’s Perspective on the Brandon McCloud Shooting,
Scene Magazine, 2009
Electronic Frontier Foundation Social Networks Monitoring Project, Research into
law enforcement’s use of social media
Read news releases and articles on police practices in our
News Center.
Browse our webcasts for police practice-related programs:
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