Oxford’s law director expects it will be about three weeks before the legal team hired by the city completes its review of both the city’s use of force policy and “errors” in the police investigation of an officer hitting a Miami football player outside a bar.
Police Chief John Jones’s initial review of the incident, which occurred Nov. 18, did not include the security camera video that showed Officer Matthew Blauvelt punching and kneeing Devin Johnson, the football player, after resisting arrest.
The video was posted on TikTok and went viral. Although the surveillance camera footage wasn’t included in the initial review, Chris Conard, the city’s law director, said it wasn’t because it wasn’t logged in OPD’s system, it was because of how it was logged and booked in.
“I think you can frame the question of whether or not this was human failure or some institutional type of process that needs to be changed,” Conard said.
Conard said the city won’t have an answer to that question until after the external investigation is complete. The investigation is being conducted by Jonathan Hollingsworth of the Hollingsworth & Washington law firm and David Williamson of the Bieser, Greer & Landis law firm.
The incident was previously investigated by the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office, which found that the officer acted appropriately. Conard said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation would not review the case because there was no serious physical harm caused by the officer.
“The investigation is independent,” Conard said. “All that the chief and I are doing are facilitating a process to make sure that witnesses are available or make things.”
About 20 people, including leaders of Oxford NAACP and Oxford Citizens for Peace and Justice, asked a city commission last week to have more meetings to understand the process and results of the investigation.
“It will be helpful for us as non-police officials to understand what that process is, what that investigation entails, so that when it takes a long time, we don’t feel anxious about that,” Toni Smith, an Oxford resident, said.
Ann Fuehrer, the secretary for Oxford’s NAACP and facilitator for OCPJ, asked about the officer’s history with the police department, the use-of-force policy and the process behind reviewing evidence in use-of-force cases.
“We will be patient; however, we think it’s really important that the commission get involved in this,” Fuehrer said. “The commission is, after all, a group in the government that represents or gives voice to the community when situations like this come up.”
Jones also handed out copies of OPD’s use of force policy at the meeting, which prompted questions about how officers are trained on the policy and how often they are trained. OPD requires officers to be trained on the policy annually.
“Are police supposed to de-escalate first, then if needed use aggression and then arrest?” Karen Byrd-Gibson, an Oxford resident, asked.
Conard said the idea of de-escalation is implied in the policy.
During the meeting, it was emphasized that the commission does not have authority to dictate anything, but rather, give community members a platform to be heard.
“The goal is to basically support the policing and increase our competence of the police and the proof will be in the pudding,” chairman Larry Nadler said.
At its next meeting, the commission will discuss the decision by the law firms and any recommendations from the lawyers. Johnson faces four criminal charges for assault, resisting arrest, underage possession and criminal trespassing. His trial is set for April 9 at the Butler County Area 1 Court.
