The state鈥檚 largest law enforcement organization says it鈥檚 cautiously on board with a lot of ideas being pushed out at the local, state and federal levels on police reforms.
Ohio Fraternal Order of Police Vice President Jason Pappas says though horror stories of bad officers are making headlines, more cops are dismissed for misconduct than people might think.
鈥淭he public doesn鈥檛 see how many officers are actually terminated from employment. All they see are the controversial ones.鈥�
Pappas says law enforcement can accept concepts such as more training, body cameras with what he calls reasonable policies, oversight boards with fair processes and databases to keep officers with bad records from getting rehired.
鈥淎s far as what has been presented to us, there is very little that is going to cause us great concern.鈥�
But Pappas says an idea discussed at the federal level to drop qualified immunity and allow cops to be subject to lawsuits is a non-starter.
鈥淨ualified immunity鈥檚 a very important tool for law enforcement, and if you remove those safeguards, it could have a major negative impact not just on today鈥檚 law enforcement, but the recruiting and retention of qualified people across this country.鈥�
You can hear more in an extended conversation with Jason Pappas on The State of Ohio this weekend.
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