Police departments across state preparing for April 8

We've been giving Ohio's highest law-enforcement body in the land (our 88 county sheriffs) quite a bit of attention of late, but what about the lower, local law enforcement departments?

For most, April 8 is being viewed as it should be - just another day on the job.

"For so many years we’ve been trained to approach people as if they have a weapon," said Sgt. Kelly Hamilton of the Columbus Police Training Academy in the Columbus Dispatch. Hamilton thinks the law is "absolutely great", a comment which presents a huge departure from past statements made by Columbus PD officials.

The difference now is that most of Ohio's law enforcement offices know full well that concealed handgun license (CHL) -holders will present NO additional threat to officers. Many are likely also aware of incidents in other states where officers' lives have been saved by a legally-armed bystander, or when a CHL-holder has apprehended a dangerous fugitive and held them for police.

But local law enforcement is not without it's doom-and-gloomers. In the villages of Cuyahoga Heights and Northfield, the police departments are visiting businesses, delivering written instructions encouraging (rather strongly, to hear them tell it) owners to post discriminatory signs banning CHL-holders.

The Ohio News Network, Akron Beacon Journal, Marion Star and Columbus Dispatch are reporting that many police officers have been undergoing training on how to deal with people legally possessing concealed weapons.

"We recommend our officers always be cautious, but also courteous and respectful,'' Akron PD Sgt. Jeff Mullins said. "(The law) is new for everybody. We don't want any embarrassment on our part by mishandling a situation.''

In the past, OFCC has told you about how police officers were trained in academy to trump up charges against persons "caught" exercising their Constitutionally-protected "fundamental individual right" (to hear the Ohio Supreme Court tell it) to bear arms for self-defense.

We're glad to hear Ohio's local law-enforcement officers are getting instruction on the new law, and we hope it's far less biased against legally-armed citizens than what they may have received in the past.