City leaders look to continue trust, transparency within community

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Leaders in Columbus spent their Tuesday evening talking about “policing” during a virtual town hall meeting.

The meeting came in light of a judge dismissing a manslaughter charge against former Columbus Police officer Canyon Boykin in the 2015 shooting death of Ricky Ball, as well as the events in Minnesota.

The group discussed key issues such as CPD’s use of force policy, along with strengthening community relations to name a few.

“We want the public to know that our job, and according to our policy, we use the minimum amount of force necessary,” said Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton.

The chief said their use of force policy does not include using neck restraints, choke-holds, or any use of lethal force.

“The first level of force is officer presence, the next is verbal commands, empty hand techniques, and then we go into tasers, which are alternatives to using deadly force,” Shelton described.

In light of recent police brutality throughout the U.S., Shelton wanted to implement a new policy called ‘Duty to Intervene.’

“What that means is that if I as an officer see another officer, regardless of rank, doing something that is harmful to a citizen or that is out of line, or out of control, or that is excessive use of force, I have an obligation to intervene, and if that officer does not he will be disciplined appropriately according to policies and procedures,” the chief explained.

Another way Shelton planned to continue creating trust and transparency was through a body camera policy.

Officers were required to activate their body cameras every time they respond to a call.

The department has used the footage as a training opportunity.

“Supervisors take about three of their officers randomly, and just go through their videos that they recorded for that day just to see how they are interacting, and if they are following policies and procedures that the police department has,” said Shelton.

“We do support the police, but we also support the community,” said Dr. Steven James, chairman of the CPD Overview Committee.

The committee was created after the 2015 officer-involved shooting.

James who’s also a pastor in Columbus said continuing to have honest conversations, along with city and community leaders working together to resolve key issues going on, are a few ways to strengthen trust among residents.

The chairman also added that Tuesday’s meeting is one way to continue building on trust between police, city leaders, and the community.

“If everything is done through transparency and everything is put on the table, I believe most people are reasonable and if they feel like if all of the evidence is put out there and everybody knows what’s going on, I really don’t think we will have a problem with most people,” said James. “It’s only when it seems like there is a cover-up that people get up in arms about things.

The mayor, police chief, district attorney, the Lowndes County chapter of the NAACP, and representatives with the Justice for Ricky Ball Organization were among the people on the panel during Tuesday’s meeting.