Franklin County Commissioner Erica Crawley said filing a complaint about Columbus police officers' conduct should not have put her own actions under a microscope, and she criticized the city's inspector general over how the office has handled her complaint.
At the commissioners' Oct. 6 meeting, Crawley addressed news articles and online criticism about her acceptance of VIP tickets to a July 2 concert for veterans that the county helped subsidize.
The concert drew attention after Crawley filed a complaint with the Columbus Department of the Inspector General alleging that police officers working special duty at the concert treated her and her guests, multiple Black women, unfairly. The Dispatch and other outlets later reported the Columbus Department of the Inspector General was
preparing to refer Crawley's acceptance of the tickets to the Ohio Ethics Commission for investigation into whether she violated state ethics law.
Crawley said her complaint to the IG was not an attack on law enforcement, but an exercise of her right as a resident.
"The Department of the Inspector General exists so that members of the public can raise concerns about police conduct and have those concerns independently reviewed," Crawley said. "That process cannot have integrity if the price of using it is that the person who files the complaint suddenly finds every aspect of their life, their work and their character placed under a microscope. And that concern is bigger than me."
Reached by phone on Oct. 6, Columbus Inspector General Jacqueline Hendricks told The Dispatch that her office would not be commenting on an open investigation. Previously, Hendricks confirmed to The Dispatch that her office plans to refer the matter involving Crawley and the concert tickets to the Ohio Ethics Commission.
Before becoming Columbus' first inspector general in 2022, Hendricks was a senior investigator in the Detroit Office of Inspector General. The Detroit office investigates fraud and corruption in city government while the Columbus inspector general office investigates allegations of police misconduct only.
"If any Franklin County resident believes that they have been mistreated by someone in authority, I want them to have enough faith in our institutions to speak up," Crawley said. "I do not want them wondering whether filing a complaint will result in their name being dragged through the media, unrelated matters being resurrected or their credibility being attacked until everyone forgets what they complained about in the first place."
A county spokesperson told The Dispatch that Crawley was not available for an interview on Oct. 6.
Columbus NAACP President Sean Walton Jr. issued a statement on Oct. 5 in which he said Crawley's allegation of racial profiling must receive a full, fair and timely review.
"A dispute raised by private security should never become a police response without sound judgment," Walton said. "And the standards our systems apply must protect every Black resident of this city, whether or not they hold office."
Later in the lengthy statement, Walton said questions about how public officials handle event tickets are fair and the authorities whose job it is to review them can and should do so.
Crawley reimburses county for parking tickets
Crawley also said on Oct. 6 that she has reimbursed Franklin County $1,420 for parking citations incurred on a county vehicle used by her office in 2023 and 2024. This includes citations she did not personally incur, Crawley said.
The Dispatch and other news outlets asked the county about parking tickets last week after Ken Kuebler, a former Columbus deputy chief of police, posted on X alleging Crawley incurred thousands of dollars in parking tickets on her county vehicle and the county paid for them.
Crawley said in a prepared statement released to The Dispatch on Oct. 6 that she previously asked about the citations and a county employee told her reimbursement was not necessary.
Franklin County Administrator Kenneth Wilson said during the meeting that an erroneous interpretation of county policy led the county to use public money to pay parking violations for some county vehicles without requiring employees to reimburse the county. Wilson said that in the future, the county will ensure that without exception, all parking violation fees will be paid for by county employees.
"We regret this oversight and I am pleased we were ultimately able to resolve this without any expense to the county," Wilson said.
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Erica Crawley blasts inspector general over handling of concert police complaint
