Ohio governor: ‘There’s a clear pathway in regard to police reform’

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on Sunday said there is a “clear pathway” to moving forward on police reform in the country. 

During an appearance on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” DeWine told host John Dickerson he had put forth proposals in his own state to address the issue of policing, including providing more police training and giving police departments funding for body cameras.

“John, I think there’s a clear pathway in regard to police reform. I think there are things that we all can come together on, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative,” DeWine told Dickerson. “We have a bill in front of the state legislature that we presented, for example, that calls for a lot more police training, more uniform police training.” 

PATHWAYS TO POLICE REFORM: @GovMikeDeWine breaks down ongoing proposals he’s put forth in Ohio to address policing in his state.

He tells @jdickerson “there’s a clear pathway” to reforms in the wake of numerous police-involved shootings. pic.twitter.com/uJwQoI8y84

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 25, 2021

DeWine told Dickerson that another pathway to police reform is to treat the police as professionals. Police should have state licensing boards like doctors and lawyers, DeWine said.

“We should do the same thing for police so that when there is a complaint against a police officer, a state licensing board can deal with that. These are common sense things that we can do, should not be controversial. We can all get behind,” he said. 

DeWine’s interview came just days after a police officer in Columbus, Ohio, fatally shot 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant on Tuesday, adding to the wave of calls for police reform. The shooting came the same day as the guilty verdict in the nationally-watched murder trial of Derek Chauvin.

DeWine said outside investigators should be brought in to examine police shootings such as the one in his state. He also said he supported the release of the body camera video. 

“Yeah, I think it should be automatic, automatic outside, someone come in to do the investigation,” DeWine told Dickerson. “You also have the prosecution, you know, the prosecution itself. And it’s not that the local prosecutor can’t do it or the local police can’t investigate themselves, particularly with the police investigating themselves.” 

NEW: @GovMikeDeWine tells @jdickerson that there should be automatic external investigations for officer-involved shootings in the wake of the Ma’Khia Bryant shooting in Columbus, Ohio.

“This is certainly called for,” he says. pic.twitter.com/8yksmUyTxn

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 25, 2021