Columbia councilman apologizes for police comments

Fourth Ward Councilman Ian Thomas apologized Wednesday for comments he made about police on Monday that have drawn the ire of Columbia’s police union.

Thomas said his comments were general in nature and apologized for giving an impression of criticism about the officers at the Columbia Police Department.

“I wish to take this opportunity to emphasize my support for the courageous and difficult work undertaken by officers every day,” Thomas said in a statement sent to the Columbia Police Officers’ Association on Wednesday.

The CPOA asked Thomas to apologize to Columbia police officers and provide proof of a claim he made on Monday night as the city council was discussing a report on community-oriented policing.

Thomas said the tone of the report needed to be changed, in part because it displays an “them vs. us” mentality among police. He said police departments across the country have been embroiled in controversy over race and profiling in recent years.

In his statement Wednesday, Thomas said community policing requires a “positive spirit of collaboration between police professionals and the general public.

“I believe that we need to move past these challenges and look to the future, in order to achieve our vision of safe communities and well-respected public safety officers,” he said in the statement.

During the discussion at the Columbia City Council meeting Monday, Thomas said “there are serious violations occurring to the people of color, there have been for generations. There are bruised feelings on the discussion of those issues on the side of police officers.”

Thomas didn’t provide any specifics about the “serious violations” he referred to.

CPOA Director Dale Roberts criticized the comments in a press release late Tuesday.

“At a time when morale within the Police Department is widely recognized as being dangerously low and turnover is dangerously high, we should expect more from our elected representatives than to levy wild accusations against their officers,” Roberts wrote.

Roberts also said Thomas needs to provide proof of claims of serious violations.

“In the alternative, Councilman Thomas owes our Police Officers a sincere apology for his careless, inaccurate, and inflammatory allegations,” Roberts said Tuesday.

In the past three years, CPD received 30 citizen complaints of excessive force and one pointed to racial bias as the reason force was used.

None of the allegations were substantiated or resulted in disciplinary action, according to city records.

CPD received 18 separate complaints from 2014 to 2017 of racial bias and three involved use of force allegations. However, none were sustained.