Fairborn Government Center | Photo by Kayli Thompson | The Wright State Guardian
Following the continuing Black Lives Matter movement, many cities throughout the United States have begun to announce funding cuts for their local police departments. In the city of Fairborn, OH, this does not appear to be the case.
Ohio Senate Ruling
Earlier this month, the Ohio Senate announced their formal opposition to defunding police departments throughout the state.
“We need to have the tough conversations,” said Senator Theresa Gaverone in an interview with The Center Square. “No one should be subjected to excessive force. But no one should have to fear for their safety because their elected officials cut funding to their police department. Less funding means fewer officers. Less funding also means less training. Less training, without a doubt, will lead to more instances of excessive force.”
While no formal plan has been announced for any other implementations to try to cut the rate of police brutality, it’s clear that police department funding cuts are not likely to occur in the state of Ohio.
Impact on the Community
Residents throughout the Dayton-Fairborn area appear supportive of local police departments continuing with current funding arrangements.
“The Dayton police saved so many lives the night of the shooting in the Oregon District, including my daughter’s,” said Gretchen Stephenson, mother of Lainey Stephenson. “Stats show when police funding is cut, crime, including violent crime, goes up. Look at NYC [and] Chicago. Let’s quit vilifying these heroes and tell the truth”.
Lainey Stephenson, junior at WSU, was at Ned Peppers in the Oregon District the night of the shootings. Fortunately, she and her family are doing well just over a year after the incident.
In Fairborn, there has not been any major call for budget cuts or defunding of local police.
“It would be devastating to the operation of the police department and the safety and security of the citizens of Fairborn [to see major budget cuts],” said Chief of Fairborn Police Terry Bennington. “Our officers undergo Use of Force training annually and every use of force incident is documented and investigated to ensure that officers are acting in accordance with the law and within policy.”
The Fairborn City Council was unavailable to comment at this time.
