Among the bills that have started to pass through the Indiana Statehouse is a police reform measure that’s been described as historic.
The bipartisan bill, unanimously approved earlier this month by the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee, includes provisions for mandatory de-escalation training, misdemeanor penalties for officers who turn off body cameras with intent to conceal and bans on chokeholds in certain circumstances.
The measure requires police departments to share full employment records with other agencies. That’s an effort to help identify bad cops and keep them from easily moving jobs.
The legislation is inspired by the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus’ proposed package of police accountability and criminal justice reforms released over the summer, in the wake of protests spurred by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Authored by Rep. Gregory Steuerwald, R-Danville, the bill has earned support from Indiana’s legislators, law enforcement leaders and such groups as the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus and the NAACP.
Steuerwald said the measure has “total support” from law enforcement. Police organizations, including the state Fraternal Order of Police, the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police and Indiana Sheriff’s Association, backed the legislation, as did the Indiana Public Defender Council.
Democratic Rep. Robin Shackleford, who co-authored the House bill, calls the bill “a great start,” while acknowledging that some wanted stricter language on chokeholds and more funding for body cameras.
“I think it’s probably more than we expected to try to get passed in this bill, because it did have some controversial parts,” Shackleford said. “I’m just glad everybody was able to get things worked out and we got as much in here as we could.”
This bill addresses many of the issues — including body cameras and a discipline matrix — that have come up in South Bend. While there has been some local progress on police reform, there’s still work to be done, and this bill would serve as a complement to such efforts.
Count us among those who are encouraged by the widespread support for the bill, which was referred to the Ways and Means Committee. It’s a good beginning toward the sort of accountability and transparency that’s necessary to build trust between police and the communities they serve.
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