The amendment proposed by Columbus Safety Collective would establish a Division of Community Response within the Department of Health, in addition to requiring the city to allocate at least $5 million to fund these changes beginning in 2027.
In 2023, the members of Columbus City Council allocated $1.2 million for an alternative response program. Two years later, the program is still no closer to becoming a reality writes Chana Wiley of Columbus Safety Collective.
Beyond the obvious impact on the administration of legal proceedings and the rights of court attendees, the policies currently in place at Franklin County Municipal Courthouse send a larger, more damning message about our city.
Officer Spencer Badger, who had been under internal investigation for bypassing public records to download police body camera footage for personal use, was fired by Columbus Division of Police on Tuesday.
“When I get up there [on the stage], it’s not a character. I’m reliving everything I’ve been through, to a degree. It’s about me and my life, and my mother and father. And it’s trauma. But in the end, it’s also joy.”
Fascism has always found its footing in moments of societal and economic strain, mobilizing a charged middle-class to physically get the message out.
Officer Spencer Badger, who operates the Columbus Police Body Camera channel on YouTube, is currently on desk duty pending the results of an administrative investigation alleging that on two occasions he bypassed Public Records to download police body camera footage. It’s not the first time his social media activities have drawn scrutiny.
Screening at the Wexner Center for the Arts on Thursday, Nov. 7, Catherine Gund’s documentary weaves together the stories of artists Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter and the late Faith Ringgold, both of whom created work that stand in opposition to the carceral system.
Justice can look like a lot of things depending on where you’re standing.
Dozens of local police traveled to Milwaukee to provide security support to the Republican National Convention. Five of those officers shot and killed an unhoused Black man named Samuel “Jehovah” Sharpe Jr.
