When are Columbus police officers told to use a gun over a Taser?

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – While Columbus police officers' use of lethal force on a man armed with knives drew backlash from some activists, a local police official states officers acted in accordance with their training.

Columbus police officers shot and killed a man on July 16, less than a mile away from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where 40 Columbus officers were stationed to provide extra security. 

Body camera video shows on-duty officers noticing a man holding two knives while approaching another person. The officers ran toward the suspect, and commanded him several times to drop his weapons. Police said the man did not listen, resulting in five officers firing the deadly shots. 

“It’s tragic that oftentimes you have to take a life to save a life, but that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” said Fraternal Order of Police President Brian Steel, who supervises the lodge for central Ohio. “We have a duty to stop the threat every time.”

City Attorney Zach Klein and Mayor Andrew Ginther both released statements stating officers prevented potential harm to another person. However, some community members were critical of the officers’ response.

“It was horrifying to witness the brutality Columbus police inflict on our community members in Columbus, happen in Wisconsin in real time,” a statement from nonprofit Ohio Families Unite for Political Action and Change says. “It is abundantly clear that training does not result in appropriate use of force. Columbus has a higher rate of killings by police than over 99% of police departments nationwide.”

The Columbus Division of Police’s use of force policy states sworn personnel should attempt to de-escalate a situation through communication skills, using a barrier or other techniques when it is “safe to do so.” 

Officers may use deadly force when they "have reason to believe the response is objectively reasonable to protect themselves or others from the imminent threat of death or serious physical harm,” the department's policy states. 

“We have a use of force continuum,” Steel said. “It starts, the use of force continuum, as your officer presence, verbal commands and then we move up. We could physically take you to the ground, put you in an escort position, mace, Taser, fists, feet, impact weapons such as a baton or flashlight and dog bites and then ultimately deadly force is the absolute last [resort].”

When using their firearms, Steel said officers are trained to aim for the "center mass," or the largest exposed area on the aggressor, in order to "stop the threat." He said that, at times, stopping the threat can take multiple bullets.

Groups like Ohio Families Unite for Political Action and Change are pushing to restrict officers' use of deadly force, including preventing officers from using their firearms on individuals armed with a knife.

“According to our research, there has been one instance of a police officer being stabbed to death by a person with a knife in the United States in the last 20 years,” a spokesperson with the organization said. “Lethal force in the presence of a knife is unjustifiable, unnecessary, and a significant over-response.”

In situations where an individual is armed with a knife, the group said it encourages verbal de-escalation, Tasers and other forms of “non-lethal force.”

Steel said Axon, the company that manufactures Tasers used by CPD, rates them as only effective in the field 66% of the time. This is why Steel said Tasers are not used when someone could face serious bodily harm.

“If somebody could find out some magic ray gun or magic net that could stop this, I guarantee you the police departments would buy it, but this is reality,” Steel said. “We can only utilize the tools on our belt.”

Tasers can be ineffective if barbs fail to penetrate clothing or darts do not fire, Steel said. He stated Columbus officers are trained to use a taser only when five things are present: officers have time on their side, distance from the suspect, a barrier between them and the armed individual, lethal force backup and the use of the Taser is “reasonable.”

“In the Milwaukee incident, there was no barrier,” Steel said. “It wasn't reasonable due to the imminent threat of serious physical harm or death to the person about to be stabbed.”

Officers are advised to take an individual’s mental health status into account prior to using force if they are unarmed. Force may be used during a “medical emergency” if the person is incapable of making rational decisions and poses an immediate threat.