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At least one Circleville police officer and perhaps the entire department have some questions to answer after Ohio State Highway Patrol bodycam footage has been released of a disturbing July 4 incident.
Truck driver Jadarrius Rose led law enforcement on a chase after he skipped an inspection stop. According to a report by WOIO, the chase did not end until stop sticks were deployed on U.S. 35 in Jackson County. However, Rose then appeared to have decided to cooperate. He stopped and exited the vehicle.
At that point, troopers can be heard in the video clearly warning the local officers:
"Don't release the dog! Do not release the dog with his hands up," the trooper repeats, before the K9 handler let the dog go, appearing to order it to charge the man, according to multiple news reports.
Immediately, the troopers yell "Get the dog off of him! Get the dog!"
First responders gave Rose first aid at the scene and then got him to a hospital.
"As troopers were attempting to gain compliance by providing verbal commands to the suspect, the Circleville Police Department deployed their canine, which resulted in the suspect being bitten by the canine," said Ohio State Highway Patrol Sergeant Ryan E. Purpura, according to WOIO.
While the incident is still under investigation, one trooper's initial reaction is certainly appropriate. She is seen in the video putting her hand over her mouth in shock.
Law enforcement agencies all over the state have struggled in recent years with incidents of excessive -- even lethal -- force. Efforts are underway to improve training and weed out officers whose track record makes them unsuitable to serve and protect. An incident in which a local officer appears to have blatantly disregarded the warnings of multiple state troopers and used excessive force via a K9 raises concerns all over again.
The actions of one officer do not mean improvement efforts are not working. But they do provide an opportunity for leaders of every law enforcement agency in the state to remind officers a) excessive or lethal force can mean more than guns, b) none of it should be used until it is a last resort; and c) for goodness sake, when every officer around you is telling you NOT to use it, don't.