Police union asking for more medical training, equipment after Andre Hill shooting

January 2, 2021January 2, 2021 WKXA

FacebookBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The Columbus, Ohio, police union is asking for more medical training and equipment following the death of Andre Hill, a Black man who was shot and killed by a police officer last month.

Newly-released body-camera footage appears to show responding officers handcuffed Hill before rendering any first aid.

Adam Coy, the officer who shot Hill, was fired by the city earlier this week after an investigation determined that his use of deadly force was not reasonable.

The Columbus Division of Police is currently investigating the actions of the other officers who responded to the scene.

Following the release of the footage, the city’s police union is pushing for more training and tools to render aid.

“I don’t think, maybe, perhaps we didn’t realize until the tragic death of Mr. Hill that we didn’t have the appropriate training or the appropriate equipment to properly render aid,” Brian Steel, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, told ABC Columbus affiliate WSYX-TV in an interview posted Friday.

Steel told the station the current equipment in police cruisers is “very minimal.” The union is asking the division and city to fund basic and advanced life-support training and trauma kits that include dressings and tourniquets.

“We understand, this is going to cost money, this is going to cost training. It’s too important of an issue not to take seriously,” he told the station.

“We believe rendering aid is an important thing. The public clearly demands it, and we are going to answer that,” he added. “We’re going to try to maybe come up with some solutions to some of these problems.”

According to WSYX, Police Chief Thomas Quinn has called for a review of what first-aid equipment should be added to cruisers and the estimated cost for the supplies.

The chief also ordered last week that officers must render aid immediately, according to WSYX. The Columbus Police Training Academy also has been directed to develop a mandatory course for officers on how to apply aid and avoid causing greater harm, according to the station.

Hill was shot after officers were dispatched to a “non-emergency” disturbance call on Dec. 22. Coy’s partner, Officer Amy Detweiler, told investigators she heard Coy scream Hill had a gun, though no weapon was found.

On Thursday, the police division released body-camera footage from several officers on the scene. According to Ben Crump, the lawyer for Hill’s family, officers left Hill in handcuffs for 13 minutes without providing any first aid help.

Quinn called the footage “horrifying.”

“There were many other officers who responded to the scene. None of them used deadly force. But as seen in these videos, few of them rendered first aid to Mr. Hill as they waited for a medic,” Quinn said in a video statement. “We are investigating to get to the bottom of who upheld the policies and standards of the Columbus Division of Police, and who did not.”

Hill’s family is calling on prosecutors to criminally charge Coy in Hill’s death.

“How there’s 22 officers on the scene and with body-camera footage and not one of them helped my dad. But instead, the first time they touch him is to put handcuffs on,” Hill’s daughter, Karissa Hill, said during a press briefing Thursday.

A public memorial service for Hill is scheduled for Tuesday, Crump said.

ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.