By David Leonhardi
It’s a difficult time to be a law enforcement officer in America. That statement doesn’t begin to tell each of you anything you don’t already know, but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating either. It does feel like the civil unrest is slowing down in our county, and our folks may be starting to spend their days off with family, instead of working at a protest. However, as things start to return to normal, our profession faces another threat.
Some of our elected officials are attempting to seize the “moment” by creating terrible legislation that can drastically change our profession. I’ve spent the past week in several meetings with legislators to talk about some of the worst bills that are moving forward. The public reaction to the George Floyd incident happened after the legislative deadline for new bills, which should mean new proposals wait until the next legislative cycle. But, unfortunately for us, many legislators have decided to use the “gut and amend” process to take advantage of a perceived desire by the public to see more police reform. There are currently 15-20 different bills that were previously unrelated to policing and public safety, but after this gut-and-amend process, will impact our profession and our communities moving forward. These bills are changing rapidly, almost daily.
I would like to be very specific about which bills are the most detrimental and why; however, I worry some of them may be very different by the time you read this. Instead, I want you to know about some of the challenges we face from the legislature: decertification, loss of qualified immunity, more strict use-of-force laws, duty to intervene, additional criminal liability for excessive force, and the expansion of SB 1421, which released some police personnel records to the public. All these ideas (and more) are currently being proposed.
The DSA is part of a coalition working tirelessly to prevent the passage of the most detrimental proposals moving forward. We are doing everything we can to support our profession and maintain safe neighborhoods. We are working to educate our elected officials and urge them to base their decisions on facts and best practices rather than emotion. A common saying in crisis communications is, “When emotionality is high, rationality tends to be low.” I worry that too many emotional decisions about our profession may cause irreparable harm.
Rest assured, we’re working for you and we’re fighting for you. As always, please give me a call anytime with specific questions or suggestions. Stay safe!