City Of South Bend Releases Draft Of New Use Of Force Policy

From the City of South Bend:

August 20, 2020

Mayor James Mueller and Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski presented a draft use of force policy for public review and feedback, as part of the administration’s ongoing efforts to make necessary changes to the City’s public safety systems.

“This draft policy incorporates best practices for 21st century policing in addition to the progress our department has made over the past several years on use of force training,” said Mayor James Mueller. “With an emphasis on the importance of de-escalation tactics and the use of force only when reasonable, necessary and proportional to a threat, this builds on our leadership in the region on 21st century policing. I encourage and look forward to receiving public feedback on this draft, through either the online survey or in the next virtual Community Action Group meeting.”

The City will host a Community Action Group meeting on August 26 beginning at 7 p.m. Because of the ongoing threat of COVID-19, the meeting will be held virtually. Attendees can join by visiting https://tinyurl.com/CAG-08262020.

“De-escalation has been a focused training within SBPD, but we want to make sure that focus is also reflected in the written use of force policy,” said Chief Scott Ruszkowski. “Moving forward, as with other policies, we’ll continue to review and make necessary adjustments to the use of force policy in order to stay at the forefront of best practices.”

To view the draft policy, click here.

The City will also collect feedback via an electronic survey for the next three weeks. To provide feedback via the electronic survey, click here.

This press release was produced by the City of South Bend. The views expressed here are the author’s own.