07/22/2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From Lodge #9 President Jeff Simpson
July 14, 2022
Today Columbus Police Sergeant Holly Kanode was fully acquitted of the charges brought against her by the City, charges that should have never been brought in the first place. Just as the investigations conducted by BakerHostetler proved what we knew all along - that officers did not violate City policy - this politically driven prosecution proved that Sgt. Kanode did not violate the law.
It is apparent that the City leadership does not have the best interest of citizen and officer safety in mind. Instead, they hold their own political agenda as their priorities.
For years the leaders of our City have claimed to champion transparency and accountability. Speaking of such, it was transparent throughout this trial that the charges brought by the Special Prosecutor had no merit and that Sgt. Kanode would be exonerated. Accountability would be acknowledging that the City has now spent many hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and has nothing to show for it. Accountability would be dropping the remaining meritless charges against officers and ceasing this political witch hunt.
Unfortunately, like here, accountability will likely need imposed on the City by a judge or jury. In the days to come, Lodge #9 is looking forward to assuring responsibility is equally distributed.
In the meantime, in the best interest of public safety, it is incumbent upon the City leadership to stop the attack on its Law Enforcement at the expense of others.
God Bless The Peacemakers,
Jeff Simpson
Jeff Simpson, President
Fraternal Order of Police
Capital City Lodge #9