Police Reform Bill Limits Chokeholds, Makes It Easier to Weed Out Bad Cops
(INDIANAPOLIS) A police reform bill could come to a vote in the Indiana House next week.
A House committee unanimously approved a bill classifying chokeholds as deadly force. That would limit their use to the same extreme circumstances as shooting someone, and subject it to the same scrutiny.
Avon Representative Greg Steuerwald’s (R) bill also requires the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy to include de-escalation training, and would make it easier to decertify officers with a record of violence. Current law allows the state to suspend an officer’s certification only if he’s convicted of a crime which indicates violent tendencies. Steuerwald’s bill would require a due-process hearing on charges that an officer is dangerous, but a criminal conviction wouldn’t be a prerequisite.
The bill would also establish a procedure for the law enforcement training board to decertify officers who commit misconduct, and would ease the sharing of officers’ employment records between police departments, thus helping to identify “bad actors” and keep them from moving jobs.
A bipartisan bill aimed at increasing police accountability and enacting criminal justice reform received early support from Indiana's legislators, law enforcement leaders and community groups Tuesday, following calls for action from the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus.
Grassroots Organizations Often Struggle With The Cost Of Change
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Editor s Note: The pandemic set off social fault lines that influence violence, and Indianapolis sets a new homicide record almost daily. This story is part of a series that examines those fault lines, with a look at historical struggle, including a systemic lack of services and resources for low-income and Black Indianapolis residents.
Many nonprofit organizations in Indianapolis work to address root causes of violence. Those include unstable housing, addiction and a lack of available jobs that pay enough to support a household.