Put-in-Bay needs diversity

PUT-IN-BAY — Does Put-in-Bay have a race relations problem?Critics have said island police engaged in racial profiling during separate incidents last year. Now a former Toledo mayor wants the village to promote diversity and do better at handling issues that involve race."I think there's a blind spot here on the diversity of the island, and if you don't change how you're doing business here ... you're going to have the same problem," former Mayor Mike Bell said Tuesday during a village council meeting.Bell serves on the Safe Island Task Force, a group that proposes and promotes public safety measures on South Bass Island, and also serves on the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board. James Kimble Bell, who is Black, spoke in support of current interim Put-in-Bay police Chief James Kimble, who is also Black. Bell's comments come as the village is still dealing with the fallout from last year's controversial arrests. One of the incidents. in May 2020, involved a Black woman who claims she was thrown to the ground by an unidentified officer without warning. Another incident in June involved a number of Black people who were arrested, including a few who were hit with Tasers, during an altercation with officers following a golf cart traffic stop. In a screenshot from a Put-in-Bay police officer's body camera video, the officer points a gun at a man after police pulled over a group of people on a golf cart on Saturday, June 6, 2020. Provided screenshot The incidents sparked lawsuits against the village seeking damages upward of $75,000, which are pending in Toledo's U.S. District Court. Kimble took over the interim chief role in July 2020, after then-police Chief Steve Riddle, who is white, was suspended with pay. Several other white police officers involved in the arrests left the department in the aftermath of both incidents. Riddle eventually reached a deal with the village to retire in exchange for a one-time, six-month independent contractor contract worth $36,000, in addition to $12,200 in unused sick leave and vacation time. Bell questioned why the village has approved several of Kimble's new hires but has not outright made him the chief. The village has opted to conduct a search process to fill the chief role. Kimble is among the candidates. "He's met the challenges. People thought he was going to check out in December," Bell said. "You've already approved people under him with less experience, but you can't approve the chief?" Put-in-Bay police Chief Steve Riddle testifies during a civil protection order hearing in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court in this 2017 file photo. Register file photo/ERIN McLAUGHLIN There was no outside search process when Riddle was hired as police chief, according to village Mayor Jessica Dress. The decision to do so for the open police chief role this time came at the request of people in the village. "In the past couple months, before we made this decision, we were getting feedback from community members wanting to see a wide net cast to make sure we have the best candidate; it very well may be James Kimble," Dress said. "I decided that was the best way to be accountable to our constituents." Dress said she hopes to have the hiring process wrapped by the end of February and to make a recommendation for the new police chief at the March village council meeting. A blind spot Bell went into more detail on his comments when speaking to the Register after the meeting. He said he's visited the island for more than 40 years and noted that's he's never personally experienced any issues. But he doesn't want the village to fall behind the times. "I believe from my experience in a metropolitan city that diversity is where the United States is at and society needs to catch up," he said. Bell said when people who are white don't have experience dealing with people of color, any issues that arise might not be dealt with appropriately. "I consider that a blind spot," he said. In regard to the June 6, 2020, incident involving village police, Bell said that was a "blind spot" and said he believes the situation wasn't handled well and officers could gave been better trained. Part of the solution to the "blind spot", he said, is to welcome more diverse people in the village. Kimble said he's taken diversity and bias training but did not believe many of his officers had taken the training. He said his goal would be to have the officers complete bias training and crisis de-escalation training. The village council did not make any decisions or have any discussions regarding the police chief job during Tuesday's meeting. They did speak about two other topics involving village police: • Hiring an additional detective: The council approved the full-time hiring of Sgt. Dana Mullins as a detective following a six-month probationary period. • New company for police background checks: The council considered hiring Paragon Investigations — the same company they hired to complete a review of officer conduct in the 2020 incidents — to handle background checks of new hires at the police department. The council said they had more questions about the proposal, and tabled the discussion. Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify language used to describe former Chief Steve Riddle's departure from the department.