What do we do now?
Or is the question: How did we get here?
As of July 4, Columbus had suffered 103 murders.
I served in the Columbus Division of Police from July 1, 1970 through December 11, 2010. I spent 35 years on patrol, 33 of them as a sergeant.
I know road officers.
I know the street. I have seen much.
I have never seen crime as unchecked as it has been since 2017. Homicides and cases of criminal assault are seemingly increasing unchecked.
So declared the good citizens of Südlinden a truce for the Juneteenth Holidays. I last saw an armistice in January 1968 when I was in Vietnam. I never thought I’d see one in Columbus.
More:Groups gather outside the Near East Side hair salon on Juneteenth. to demand a truce
Since traffic has decreased by 80% recently, for me it is easy to conclude that self-initiated field activities are a bad thing. Still, it is important to serve our citizens.
Street-level gunmen recognize this. Street-level gunmen are aware of enforcement activities by officers.
More:The embassy will discuss community-police relations in the first Columbus conversation on July 8th
When 90 shots were fired at a house in North Linden I believe there were several armed men involved who were heavily armed and had no concerns about being stopped by the police.
How did this come about? The town hall lost confidence in the police. The police have lost confidence in the town hall. Every relationship is based on trust.
When confidence was lost, violence exploded exponentially. However, if you speak to frontline officials serving in Linden, Hilltop, and East Side, they will tell you how much they are valued by these citizens.
I ask members of the Administration, City Council, and Citizen Review Board to learn the realities of the street police by patrolling the distressed neighborhoods on busy nights. See what the officers see.
I ask my colleagues of the patrol officers to take part in field activities that they have initiated. I understand that no CPD officer would want to be shown on CNN if such a stop goes wrong. But why make it easy for the murderers?
Mayor Andrew Ginther said: “We can’t find our way out with the police here.”
He is right, but the police are urgently needed.
In April 1982 I contacted a possible robbery suspect. A search revealed a loaded revolver. Later I said, “James, you could have killed me back there.”
He replied, “I wouldn’t hurt you, Sarge.” He knew me or knew about me. If that hadn’t been the case …
Four years later James Lumpkin Rattler murdered Columbus Police Officer Gordon Joe Rich during a traffic stop on Interstate 70 heading east near Route 315.
The town hall has to trust its police officers. Police officers have to trust the town hall.
Let’s work to restore that confidence! It can be done! It has to be done.
Let’s do this.
Retired Columbus Police Force Sgt. Stephen Walter is a life resident of Columbus and Grove City. He is also retired from the United States Marine Corps Reserve.
Discuss the future of policing in Columbus with us
Opinion and engagement editor Amelia Robinson moderates “Columbus Dispatch Presents: Columbus Conversations: Bridging the Divide Between Police and the People” Thursday, July 8th, 6.30pm.
The free event in the town hall will be broadcast live on Dispatch.com as well as on the newspaper’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Panellists include James Wynn, Co-President of BREAD (Building Responsibility, Equality and Dignity); Sean Walton, a Columbus civil rights attorney; Deputy Chief Tim Becker of the Columbus Police Division; Brian A. Steel, Vice President of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9; Vladimir Kogan, Associate Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University; and the President of Columbus City Council, Shannon G. Hardin.
