S.B. 5 Threatens Police Safety, Wounded Cop Tells Maddow

When Ohio’s police officers sit down to bargain, the discussions go far beyond pay and benefits to issues like safety and safety equipment, retired Columbus police officer Mike Weinman said on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show last night. That’s one reason the life-long Republican, who was shot in the line duty, paralyzed and now is confined to wheelchair, is joining the effort to repeal John Kasich’s (R) bill that eliminates the collective bargaining rights of more than 350,000 public employees. He told Maddow:

One of things we bargain for here in Ohio is safety equipment. I was wearing a bullet resistant vest that night. A lot of agencies have to bargain for those bullet resistant vests. Under Senate Bill 5 now, it would be up to city councils whether or not you get that safety equipment.

Weinman estimates 70 percent of the members in Ohio’s Fraternal Order of Police—where he is director of government affairs—are conservative Republicans and the FOP endorsed many of the lawmakers who voted to strip police officers, fire fighters and other public employees of their collective bargaining rights. But they are part of the statewide drive to repeal the bill.
“There’s a lot of bitterness out there,” he said.