13 Ideas to Improve Policing in PA

From PA Post (https://papost.org/):

At least 2 will be considered by a legislative panel next week Five Pa. House Democrats hold a Black Lives Matter protest while state Rep. Christopher Rabb (D-Philadelphia) delivers remarks from the Speaker’s rostrum on Monday, June 8, 2020. Black lawmakers prevented the regular session from beginning as scheduled in order to protest the killing of George Floyd and to call on the GOP majority to take up a slate of police reform bills. (Courtesy of Pa. House Democrats)

During their Monday protest inside the Pennsylvania House of Representatives chamber, Black legislators repeatedly said they want to see action on more than a dozen bills related to policing..

Later on Monday, state Reps. Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) and Summer Lee (D-Allegheny) both made the same point about the proposals: They aren’t radical.

So what are the proposals? Here’s a rundown of what 13 bills currently awaiting action in the House Judiciary Committee would do:

1. Require law enforcement agencies to fire police officers who test positive for drug use.
2. Require the state attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor whenever an on-duty police officer uses deadly force that may amount to criminal homicide.
3. Require police officers to undergo Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) evaluations every other year and within 30 days of an incident involving the use of lethal force.
4. Preventing someone from escaping an arrest would no longer be a good enough reason to use deadly force. Instead, an officer could use deadly force to prevent imminent death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or “sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat.”
5. Require law enforcement agencies to keep detailed personnel records about officers, including information about substantiated complaints and disciplinary actions. Those records would be filed with the attorney general’s office, which would maintain them in an electronic database. Police departments would have to check that database when hiring an officer.
6. Prohibit police officers accused of sexual assault of a person in custody to argue that a victim gave consent as a defense in court.
7. Create a statewide council responsible for certifying, training and licensing police officers.
8. Require employers to release information to law enforcement agencies performing background checks on prospective hires (the House Judiciary Committee plans to consider this bill on Monday).
9. Allow the public to have expanded access to police body camera and dashboard camera footage.
10. Create a standard “Use of Force” report that law enforcement agencies would have to use.
11. Put into law that members of the public have the right to record police officers working in public, as long as a citizen is a location where it’s legal for them to be and they don’t interfere with the officer’s official duties.
12. Require a law enforcement agency’s governing body to approve a public resolution before applying for federal military equipment. A public hearing would be required before the vote.
13. Increase training requirements with the goal of helping officers recognize signs of child abuse (the House Judiciary Committee plans to consider this bill on Monday).

One thing you don’t see on the list is defunding the police.

Other bills in the state Senate: The list of bills that House members want to see action on includes six others in the state Senate,  according to House Democratic Caucus spokesman Bill Patton.  Some of those measures overlap with legislation on the House list. But others don’t. That includes a proposal to increase the situations when police are required to record an interrogation.

The Auditor General: On Tuesday, Eugene DePasquale (D) unveiled his own plan for police reform. According to Erie News Now, the proposal “focuses on the events that occur to a person following an arrest and charges are filed.” DePasquale, who’s challenging Rep. Scott Perry in one of the most competitive House races in the nation this fall, said: “Enacting criminal justice reforms can produce big savings, big taxpayer savings for Pennsylvania taxpayers while creating a more equitable approach to enforcing our laws.”