CINCINNATI — In two-and-a-half years, 100 use of force cases were reported against patrol unit deputies at the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, according to a new report.
“The numbers were lower than we even expected to see,” said Major Laetita Schuler with HCSO Standards Division.
Candra Reeves, senior director of data and analytics at the Urban League Holloman Center for Social Justice, was also surprised. She was one of two people who put the report together.
“The data is from January 1, 2020 to July 31, 2022,” Reeves said.
She collected paper records, because at the time HCSO didn’t have digital files. The sheriff’s office has since updated to an electronic system. She said they only reviewed patrol use of force cases because they didn’t have the capacity to look into cases that happened in the jail or courthouse.
The report looked at five types of use of force: physical, non-injury, tasers, K-9 and pepper spray.
“A lot of the cases weren’t as injury heavy. I feel like a lot of the force occurred when the cuffs are getting put on, or if the individual fell when they were being arrested, then it would be on the legs,” Reeves said.
The report showed that there were 45 use of force cases in 2020, 36 in 2021, and 19 in 2022. According to the data, Black people represented 48% of those cases. The United State Census reports nearly 27% of the people who live in Hamilton County are Black. Black men between the ages of 21-39 made up 59% of the use of force incidents reported.
“The district with the most uses of force case was District 1 and that includes Lincoln Heights, Cleves,” Reeves said.
The report shows 39% of force incidents happened in HCSO District 3. Reeves said only 3% of reports happened in District 2, a predominantly white community.
“The entire purpose of this panel is to share it with the community, so they can be educated about what force looks like in this area, but also to continue to collaborate with the sheriff’s office to make sure their policies are in line and having increasing transparency with the data,” Reeves said.
Improving transparency is one of the reasons why the sheriff’s office wanted to be a part of this report.
“Community deserves transparency, and we do serve the community, so they have a right to see what we’re doing. I also think they have a right to be a part of the solution,” Schuler said.
Schuler said before the report came HCSO implemented updated policies.
“We currently have implemented a new system to do policy and procedure which makes things more smoother, effective, and cohesive for the officers. In addition to that, we’ve also implemented de-escalation in our reporting system. The officers have already been doing that but this just kind of ups it another level,” she said.
Schuler said the department will look at the numbers and see where they can improve. However, she doesn’t think any department can completely eliminate use of force.
“Use of force alone is not bad. Use of force is sometimes just if an individual is resisting arrest or they’re just not wanting to come toward you when they’re calling you, you can grab their arm that’s actually considered a use of force,” she said.
When asked about the number of people who don’t report these incidents, Reeves acknowledged the data is biased because not everyone reports it.
“With data we can’t change what we don’t know, so the reason why police and community relations feel very poor right now is because there’s a history of lack of transparency,” Reeves said.
She hopes this discussion will encourage more people to come forward and report these incidents. She also hopes more police departments will share their data on use of force to increase transparency.
“One of the things we can’t do right now is compare what force looks like throughout the county because we only have the sheriff’s office data,” she said.
Reeves said they were able to collaborate with the sheriff’s office because they received grant money.
