The Minneapolis Charter Commission will listen to public testimony Monday evening on a proposal that is a more moderate alternative to the City Council's proposed legislation that would radically change the way in which police services are delivered there.
Legislators in the Massachusetts House of Representatives have begun a debate on how law enforcement officers in the state will operate and be trained, but the early outcome is that things like the use of tear gas in crowd control will remain in place.
Forty-seven percent of overall respondents said funds should be shifted from police departments to social services. Black Americans were more likely to support reducing police budgets, at 70 percent, compared with 49 percent of Hispanic and 41 percent of white Americans.
The chiefs urged Gov. Charlie Baker and state legislators to work with police on the legislation instead of cutting them out of the conversation.
Officials in Massachusetts recently passed a "police reform bill" this week that would allow public schools the option of removing resource officers in districts across the state. The bill also imposes police oversight, bans choke-holds, limits the use of tear gas, licenses all law enforcement officers, and requires that they take training on the history of racism.
"We have arrived at this unfortunate decision due to the hastily written so-called police reform legislation recently passed by the New York City Council," said PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer. "This poorly conceived bill puts an undue burden upon our troopers; it opens them up to criminal and civil liability for restraining a person during a lawful arrest in a manner that is consistent with their training and is legal throughout the rest
“I think there is absolutely valid causes about what came out of Minneapolis … but I think that people are using that just cause to advance agendas and agendas that existed long before the incident happened,” Shea said.
The bill would limit the use of deadly force to instances where de-escalation tactics have failed or are not feasible and "such force is necessary to prevent imminent harm to a person and the amount of force used is proportional to the threat of imminent harm."
Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott—who last week signed a "franchise tag" contract with the team worth $31.4 million—made good on a pledge he made several weeks ago to donate at least $1 million to help improve police training in the Dallas metropolitan area.
The United States House of Representatives on Thursday approved draft legislation named for George Floyd, whose in-custody death last month has sparked weeks of widespread civil unrest and calls for police reform.