There was little action on police reform in the recent special session but reform advocates say that is not going to be the case in the fall or 2021 session.
Baton Rouge Representative Ted James says they will revive an effort to revoke qualified immunity for officers. He says the effort to allow cops to be held liable for misbehavior in civil court will be a major part of reform discussions.
“There are certain things that they know at the end of the day they have protection,” says James.
A push to end qualified immunity did not get out of committee in the recent session.
James says they’ll also be pushing to build on current laws that stop bad cops from department hopping after they get in trouble. Right now a cop who is convicted of excessive force can’t get rehired in Louisiana, but the rehire ban needs to be expanded.
“We are looking at moving post certification based on use of force complaints or discipline because we are seeing that a lot of those officers are not getting prosecuted but there are some that have resigned because of use of force,” says James.
The one police reform-related item that passed was a resolution creating a 20+ member study group to study policing policy.
The special session took place as George Floyd protests began. Discussions of the issues at the heart of those protests, like police brutality, were restrained, but James says they won’t be next time.
“A lot of times we ignore these uncomfortable conversations but that is the only way we are going to get past the uncomfortable nature of even having a discussion about police,” says James.
James says the issue will be brought back at either the expected upcoming fall session, or next year’s regular session.
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