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*Activists and Legislators:* Here’s a thread of MEANINGFUL legislation that has been proposed and, in some cases, passed in cities and states to address police violence. Consider passing legislation like this in your community, too. (1/x)
1. Connecticut HB 7103. Signed into law in 2015. Makes it illegal for police departments to hire officers who were previously fired or who resigned while being investigated for serious misconduct and/or excessive force. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2015/ACT/PA/2015PA-00004-R00HB-07103SS1-PA.htm
2. AB 953. Passed in CA. Requires every police dept report every stop, search, arrest & use of force to a state database. Includes officer ID, location, perceived race, age, gender, gender identity, disability status. Raw data & analysis published yearly. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB953
3. Tennessee’s Deadly Force law. One of the only states legally requiring police use every available alternative before shooting. Laws in most other states say police can shoot even if they clearly could’ve de-escalated or used non-lethal force instead. https://www.lawserver.com/law/state/tennessee/tn-code/tennessee_code_39-11-620
4. HB 330. Signed into law in Montana in 2015. Bans police from receiving military weapons from the federal government including tanks, armored vehicles, drones, grenade launchers, aircraft. Goes further than Obama’s executive order (which Trump repealed). https://legiscan.com/MT/text/HB330/id/1198338
Colorado HB12-64. Signed law 2016. Original version made it a crime for officers to use chokeholds *or* any other neck restraint, except if a person posed an imminent threat of death/serious injury. BUT it got watered down before passing
. Original text: http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2016a/csl.nsf/billcontainers/F5A2A727B31083DD87257F45007EDDCE/$FILE/1264_01.pdf
. Original text: http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2016a/csl.nsf/billcontainers/F5A2A727B31083DD87257F45007EDDCE/$FILE/1264_01.pdf
Illinois HB58. Signed into law in 2017. Requires any officer who shoots someone to submit to mandatory drug and alcohol testing within one hour of the shooting. http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10000SB0058&GA=100&SessionId=91&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=99371&DocNum=58&GAID=14&Session=&print=true
7. Oakland’s Measure LL. Passed in 2016. Creates one of the strongest community oversight structures in the nation. Power to pass dept policies, fire officers & the police chief, selects the candidates for police chief, investigates misconduct. All of it. https://cao-94612.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/oak062931.pdf
8. Nebraska LB 791. Signed 2018. Restricts State Patrol’s union contract from interfering with police accountability. Should have gone further to ban all police union contracts from having language affecting misconduct investigations, discipline & records. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/105/PDF/Slip/LB791.pdf
9. If you’re looking for city/police dept policies that establish substantially more restrictive use of force standards, we’ve got you covered. We created a use of force policy your city can adopt immediately, download it at the bottom of this site: http://useofforceproject.org
10. 12 states have public records laws that allow records of police misconduct & discipline to be made public. There’s no excuse for any state to refuse to make ALL of these records public - it’s critical for identifying officers’ misconduct histories. https://project.wnyc.org/disciplinary-records/
11. 15 states have “police bill of rights” laws that impose ADDITIONAL legal restrictions that make it even harder to hold police accountable. But 35 states don’t do this. No reason these police bill of rights laws can’t be repealed entirely. https://www.checkthepolice.org/
12. Those are some of 107+ laws focused on police violence that were signed since Ferguson. Most were not that consequential - basic data collection, body cams, etc. But SOME were actually pretty solid. And they wouldn’t have passed without the protests.
https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#action
https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#action
Those are all local and state laws. That’s where almost all the leverage is to address police violence since the fed government is limited in its power over local police depts. But there ARE some bills in Congress that, if passed, could make a difference: https://lacyclay.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/clay-khanna-s-peace-act-would-mandate-federal-law-enforcement-use-deadly
Adding this bill to the thread. This legislation is a big deal. It’s under consideration in California right now and needs to be passed there and in every state. https://twitter.com/samswey/status/1267125473634594817?s=21 https://twitter.com/samswey/status/1267125473634594817
