BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CLICK HERE for a summary and links to the three-day Enquirer series sparked by the shooting death of Lorenzo Collins.

When Cincinnati police handed out discipline this week to a handful of officers involved in February's shooting death of Lorenzo Collins, every police officer received an order: Carry your police baton whenever you're in uniform.

The investigation into Mr. Collins' death found that the majority of officers on the scene the day he escaped from a University Hospital mental ward were not carrying their batons.

The officers tried to subdue Mr. Collins with a chemical irritant, but two officers shot him moments later, saying he came at them with a brick.

While city and University of Cincinnati police found that the shooting was justified, the departments are looking at improving tools for non-lethal use of force. Police are not saying that use of batons would have saved Mr. Collins' life, just that the baton is another tool police should keep available.

Campus police have ordered electric stun guns for every police car to build its array of non-lethal weapons.

The city is phasing in expandable batons - known as PR-24s - to its 984 officers to replace the more cumbersome batons they carry. The idea is to get officers to wear them even in their cars. The recruit class that graduated in May is the first to have them. They are collapsible 24-inch batons with handles and are the next step of force beyond chemical irritant.

At Cincinnati's police academy, police trained instructors last week to use the expandable batons, police Spc. Mike Broering said.

The force also will soon have bean-bag guns to help subdue suspects, but trainers say no tool is foolproof.

"We'll do everything in our power to avoid another Lorenzo Collins thing," said police Spc. Herb Hood, who trains recruits to use defensive tactics. "But the police officer is not going to decide what's going to happen. It's the person with the brick or the knife or the gun or holding their mother hostage."

Other members of the police training section met Tuesday with mental-health agency leaders and support groups to explain attempts to strengthen training.

Previous stories

REVIEWS CLEAR POLICE IN COLLINS SHOOTING July 1, 1997
COLLINS CASE IS BEING DISTORTED An Editorial, June 8, 1997
POLICE SUPPORT OFFICERS IN SHOOTINGS June 5, 1997
POLICE UNION, PROTESTERS PLAN DEMONSTRATIONS June 3, 1997
ENOUGH GUILT TO SHARE Laura Pulfer column, June 3, 1997
SHOOT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER Peter Bronson column, June 1, 1997
COLLINS PROTESTS CONTINUE May 31, 1997
RADIO LINKS ERRATIC IN COLLINS CHASE May 30, 1997
POLICY ON POLICE HOLDS UNCLEAR May 30, 1997
POLICE SUMMARY OF ITS INVESTIGATION May 29, 1997
DIAGRAM OF THE SHOOTING SCENE May 29, 1997
NO CRIME FOUND IN COLLINS SHOOTING May 29, 1997
NINE MINUTES OF CONFUSION: THE SHOOTING OF LORENZO COLLINS May 27, 1997
DIAGRAM RECONSTRUCTING THE EVENTS May 27, 1997
TRAINING, POLICIES AND POLICE ACTION May 27, 1997
WHY DID THE COPS KILL LORENZO? Peter Bronson column, May 25, 1997
BORGMAN CARTOON May 25, 1997
PUSH FOR POLICE REVIEW FEARED May 9, 1997
FBI TO REVIEW COLLINS CASE May 8, 1997
MARCHERS VOW SEASON OF DISRUPTIONS May 5, 1997
PROSECUTORS GET REPORT ON FATAL SHOOTING April 29, 1997
SHOOTING PROTESTERS ALLEGE POLICE BRUTALITY April 17, 1997
DEMONSTRATORS CITE SHOOTING OF MENTAL PATIENT March 24, 1997
BAPTIST MINISTERS PROTEST AGAINST POLICE March 20, 1997
LAWSUIT SEEKS $5 MILLION March 13, 1997
PUNISH POLICE, MARCHERS URGE March 5, 1997
FATAL SHOOTING CONCERNS COMMUNITY March 2, 1997
PROBE: POLICE FIRED FOUR SHOTS AT MAN WITH BRICK Feb. 25, 1997
MAN SHOT BY POLICE AFTER CHASE Feb. 24, 1997