Associated Press
BEAVERCREEK, Ohio — A community board tasked with reviewing the fatal police shooting of a man carrying an air rifle in a southwestern Ohio Wal-Mart store has recommended that city police officers wear body cameras in an effort to strengthen accountability to the public.
The board also recommended that Beavercreek police develop a citizen advisory committee and videotape police training exercises, the Dayton Daily News reported.
The board’s report comes seven months after 22-year-old John Crawford III was shot in August, when police responded to a 911 call reporting a man waving what appeared to be a firearm at the store in the Dayton suburb. Police said the air rifle looked real, and a grand jury concluded the shooting was justified.
Crawford was black; the officer who shot him is white.
The board, comprised of three law enforcement officers, a pastor and a community member, reviewed audio and video related to the shooting, evidence from Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations, police policies and court cases involving police use of force before submitting its report. The board wrote in its report that the actions of the officer who shot Crawford were legally justified.
Beavercreek Police Chief Dennis Evers called the board’s recommendations positive and said they will be reviewed by the department.
Crawford’s family has sought a federal investigation to see if race was a factor in the shooting.
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