Pubdate: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Section: News,page 20 COLUMBUS POLICE SUED FOR ALLEGED RIGHTS ABUSES The U.S. Justice Department sued the Columbus,Ohio,Police Department Thursday, accusing it of civil rights abuses that included excessive force, false arrests and improper searches. The government said it reviewed more than 300 complaints before making Columbus only the third U.S. city to be threatened with a lawsuit by department's Civil Rights Division under a 1994 federal law. Steubenville, Ohio, and Pittsburgh reached agreements known as consent decrees in which they promised to correct problems in the training, supervision and discipline of officers. The lawsuit against the 1,700-member Columbus force demands improvements in the training and supervision of police officers, and the investigation of civilian complaints. Among other things, the Justice Department of falsely arresting or charging people who saw police misconduct or were believed likely to complain of misconduct. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea