FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2020, file photo, Thomas Quinlan, chief of the Columbus Division of Police, speaks with the media at the Columbus Community Safety Advisory Commission in Columbus, Ohio.
(AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins, File)COLUMBUS, Ohio โ The next police chief of Columbus must come from outside the agency and through a national search, community activists critical of policing in Ohio's largest city insisted Friday.
Former Chief Thomas Quinlan, demoted Thursday by Mayor Andrew Ginther, was a 30-year member of the agency and was unlikely to make the big changes needed because of his career there, the activists said.
The next chief should be Black and preferably a woman, Jones said, saying she believes Black women can be transformative leaders by communicating effectively.
Ginther, a Democrat, said a new national search will be conducted for the next chief, though activists note the last national search ended in an internal hire.