A Columbus, Ohio police officer involved in a deadly shooting has been indicted by a Grand Jury. The indictment charges the former officer with Felony Murder, Felonious Assault, and two counts of Dereliction of Duty. The case was presented to the Grand Jury by the Ohio Attorney General.
On December 22, 2020 officers Adam Coy and Amy Detweiller responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle. Neither officer activated their body worn camera and Coy ultimately shot and killed Andre Hill. Coy was fired by the Police Chief shortly after.
This article will only focus on the last charge as the question of whether an officer can meet the statutory 0requirements of a Murder charge has been dealt with in prior articles see “IS IT MURDER?”
The Dereliction of Duty charge is based upon the failure of the officer to activate his body worn cam. The second count alleges that Coy failed to inform his partner that she was in danger. This criminalizes the violation of a police department policy which is new and uncharted territory.
The Ohio law used in this charge states:
2921.44 Dereliction of duty.
(A) No law enforcement officer shall negligently do any of the following:
(1) Fail to serve a lawful warrant without delay;
(2) Fail to prevent or halt the commission of an offense or to apprehend an offender, when it is in the law enforcement officer’s power to do so alone or with available assistance.
(B) No law enforcement, ministerial, or judicial officer shall negligently fail to perform a lawful duty in a criminal case or proceeding.
Which sub-section of this law was applied in this case is questionable, at best, but the violation of a police department policy or procedure does not independently constitute a crime, or does it?
Another unanswered question is why the other officer was not charged with Dereliction of Duty as her cam was not activated?
A Court will ultimately decide the issues in this case.