PJP Takes Demands to City Council President
Community Organizer, Bryanna Chambers of People's Justice Project visited Columbus City Council on Monday, October 7, 2024, to bring letter of demands in response to the death of Sam Sharpe Jr. at the hands of the Columbus Police Department. The officers involved in this incident were:
Nicholas Mason, joined CPD in 2007
Adam Groves, joined CPD in 2011
Canaan Dick, joined CPD in 2022
Karl Eiginger, joined CPD in 2022
Austin Enos, joined CPD in 2022
The demands include:
Demand #1. Release information from the personnel files of the officers involved in the murder of Samuel Sharpe, including past use of force incidents and complaints.
Demand #2. Create a transparency policy for future incidents involving CPD - release names and body cam footage, posted on the CPD website, within 48 hours.
Demand #3. A non-police response that is non-carceral.
Read the full letter below:
Dear City Council,
My name is Bryanna Chambers and I am a community organizer with the People’s Justice Project and resident of Columbus. On July 16th at the RNC in Milwaukee, Columbus police fatally shot Samuel Sharpe Jr. 2 of the police officers, Nicholas Mason and Adam Groves already had previous incidents of excessive use of force.
This shooting really shows the culture of the Columbus police. Over the past 10 years, they have killed more than 63 people. No Columbus police officer has been convicted of any of these murders. Why? Because of how this city has aimed to find ways to make it difficult for families impacted by Police brutality to receive any form of Justice.
In the 2024 budget, this council allocated nearly 400 million dollars to the police alone, leaving way less money for community services. How is that acceptable? How does a police department with a history of violence, that has resulted in multiple investigations by the Department of Justice and an unsolved violent crime rate of 85% (Bischoff, 2024) have a budget of 400 million?
The People’s Justice Project has three demands:
Demand #1. Release information from the personnel files of the officers involved in the murder of Samuel Sharpe, including past use of force incidents and complaints.
We have reached out to the City Attorney for the personnel files, but it is absolutely ridiculous that as an organization we have to do this. We should not have a culture of policing that is violent and a city that protects the people who enact this violence.
Demand #2. Create a transparency policy for future incidents involving CPD - release names and body cam footage, posted on the CPD website, within 48 hours
The residents of Columbus should have the right to know what type of Police department they really have.
Demand #3. A non-police response that is non-carceral
There should be no reason that people who have mental health issues, are homeless, or have addictions-which is a disease, should be criminalized.
Like most Columbus residents I am sick and tired of the terror that police inflict on us, and they are not held accountable. I am afraid of being around police or calling 911 for any emergency. It is upsetting that these police officers who do nothing to prevent crime, help residents, or de-escalate situations are given a large portion of the city budget. The residents of Columbus deserve better.
Sincerely,
Bryanna Chambers
People’s Justice Project
Work Cited
Bischoff, Laura A. “Police Fail to Make Arrests or Solve 7 in 10 Violent Crimes in Ohio, Report Found.” The Columbus Dispatch, The Columbus Dispatch, 27 Aug. 2024, www.dispatch.com/story/news/crime/2024/08/26/report-7-in-10-violent-crimes-reported-to-ohio-police-are-unsolved/74905650007/.
