OFF BEAT: Col. City fine-tunes Police Department

January 4, 2013

COLUMBIA CITY — Two incidents, one in September and one in December, caused the Columbia City Police Department to re-evaluate policies and internal protocol.

Monday, Dec. 3, a loaded gun magazine was found on the ground near Columbia City High School. This caused the school to go into a lockdown status briefly that day.

Although the situation was accidental and resolved without incident, Columbia City Police Chief Tim Longenbaugh said the department has made changes to prevent such an event from happening in the future.

A second event also drew the attention of the department. On Sept. 28, a pedestrian was struck by a squad car. The pedestrian, Zachary Hesting of Columbia City, was walking along the road when he was hit by the vehicle.

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