DAYTON — The Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with the City of Dayton and the Dayton Police Department after allegations that police discriminated against a driver during a 2021 traffic stop.
That traffic stop took place in Sept 2021 on Grand Avenue in Dayton. Officers were shown forcibly removing Clifford Owensby, who reported being disabled, from his car, handcuffed him, and dragged him to a police cruiser.
Owensby told officers multiple times he was paraplegic, body camera footage showed.
Additionally, officers refused his request that they call a supervisor.
“Ensuring that law enforcement officers understand the scope of the (American with Disabilities Act) will only positively impact their connection with the people in the communities they serve,” U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio said. “There are so many people with different disabilities whom officers may find themselves interacting with on even a daily basis, so having them trained in this area is imperative.”
The two-year agreement requires DPD to modify its policies to be consistent with the ADA, provide training for police about how to better interact with individuals with disabilities and to report on its progress to the DOJ.
Dayton leaders released statements in response to the agreement.
Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal released the following statement:
“I have always been a proponent for training. The Dayton Police Department’s training exceeds all legal mandates, and we will use this opportunity to further enhance our department. We will be working with Disability Ohio to train all our officers once per year. The department is also going to review and revise its policies to see where we can improve. This is a common practice within the Dayton Police Department to always strive for ways to best serve our community and the people in it. The parties agreed that this settlement is not evidence of the City or DPD engaging in unconstitutional or illegal conduct.”
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims said the following in response to the agreement:
“I am committed to the continued improvement of all city services, particularly those provided by the Dayton Police Department. Under this Agreement, the Dayton Police Department will increase its training and update its policies to improve those services, particularly with respect to encounters with persons with mobility limitations. As a result of our two-year-long community police reform process, the City of Dayton adopted several working group recommendations including a new de-escalation policy and training, the creation of an independent accountability auditor, and the creation of a non-police responder for non-violent calls. These critical policy reforms and those we will make as a result of this matter will strengthen and demonstrate our continued commitment to improve community-police relations.”
Andrew Sexton, general counsel for DPD said the settlement will allow the department to draft a new policy and provide ADA-specific training and that “the agreement is not a consent decree and did not involve the court or an admission of any wrongdoing or insufficiency of our training or policies. The litigation with Mr. Owensby is still pending.”
We will continue to monitor the changes Dayton makes to their policies and update as new information becomes available.