The University of Cincinnati’s president on Thursday announced changes in how the institution’s police force operates, following an officer’s fatal shooting of a black man during a traffic stop on Sunday, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
The officer, Ray Tensing, shot and killed Samuel Dubose, 43, during a traffic stop over a missing front license plate that took place about half a mile from the university’s main campus. Mr. Dubose’s family and others have staged protests calling for the release of surveillance and body-camera footage of the incident.
Santa J. Ono, Cincinnati’s president, said on Twitter that he had encouraged the local prosecutor’s office to “share the incident video with Samuel Dubose’s family in view of their requests.”
A police report that was released on Thursday stated that Officer Tensing, who is white, had asserted that he “was being dragged by the vehicle and had to fire his weapon.” Officer Tensing is on paid leave from the department.
Mr. Ono, who is unusually active on Twitter for a college president, posted a link to a news release describing reforms that were being carried out in the wake of the incident. It stated that, effective July 20, the university’s police force would focus patrols within campus boundaries and would conduct traffic stops only within those boundaries. The university also said it would review its agreement with the City of Cincinnati’s police department, which allowed university police officers to investigate what the newspaper called “minor traffic offenses” that occur outside campus boundaries.
