COLUMBUS — Franklin County Commissioner Erica Crawley on Tuesday blasted the Columbus Department of the Inspector General over its handling of her complaint about police officers’ conduct at a July 2 veterans concert.
At the commissioners’ Oct. 6 meeting, Crawley said filing a complaint about officers working special duty at the concert should not have put her own actions under a microscope. The concert drew county subsidies, and Crawley acknowledged she accepted VIP tickets for herself and guests — multiple Black women she said were treated unfairly by officers.
The Columbus Dispatch and other outlets have reported the inspector general’s office is preparing to refer Crawley’s acceptance of the tickets to the Ohio Ethics Commission to investigate whether she violated state ethics law. Inspector General Jacqueline Hendricks declined to comment on the open investigation when reached Oct. 6, but previously confirmed the planned referral.
“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.”
Crawley said her complaint was not an attack on law enforcement but an exercise of her rights as a resident.
The county helped subsidize the July 2 concert honoring veterans. The ethics question centers on whether the free VIP tickets constituted an improper gift under Ohio ethics law — an issue the Ethics Commission would decide if the referral goes forward.
