Monday’s demonstration by black lawmakers designed to force action on long-ignored police reform bills in Pennsylvania has started to show its first, albeit modest results.
Republican and Democrat House leaders agreed Tuesday to call up two police reform bills for votes in the House Judiciary Committee next week, setting the table for potential floor action later this month. The scheduled votes are considered a deposit on a deal struck between black lawmakers, all Democrats, and majority Republican House leaders to have a broader conversation on policing reform measures.
“We’re pretty happy with at least this being a starting point,” said Rep. Stephen Kinsey, D-Philadelphia and chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus. “We don’t think we’re anywhere near finished. But we do think this has opened up a dialogue that we believe would not have occurred otherwise.”
Judiciary Committee Chair Rob Kauffman, a Chambersburg Republican, said the committee will meet Monday to consider House Bill 1841, which would require all law enforcement agencies to make full disclosure of any current or former officer’s personnel files for hiring background checks being conducted by other law enforcement agencies.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Harry Readshaw, D-Allegheny County, is intended to close a loophole created in current law where former employers have at times withheld information on complaints or disciplinary actions out of fear of civil liability.
The committee will also consider an amendment adding teeth to Readshaw’s bill, requiring all law enforcement agencies to keep detailed records of all substantiated criminal, civil and ethics complaints against their employees, as well as the reason and circumstances surrounding any separation from the force. The amendment would be built on a proposal introduced by Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Philadelphia.
The second bill, House Bill 1910, pertains to training police officers to recognize signs of child abuse. But under the deal struck Tuesday, Kinsey said, it would be amended with a proposal from Rep. Jason Dawkins, D-Philadelphia, requiring all police officers to be tested for post-traumatic stress disorder every two years, and within 30 days of any lethal use-of-force incident.
Officers exhibiting symptoms of PTSD would be moved to desk duty while undergoing treatment.
The crux of the scheduling agreement Tuesday is limited in that Kauffman has agreed to list the bills and amendments for a debate and vote; each of the proposals would still have to win those votes to get to the House floor.
But Kinsey said he is optimistic these can be broadly seen as common-sense proposals designed to make sure that all officers on the street are fit for their important duties, and that they will be able to attract bipartisan support.
This week’s discussions were launched when members of the Black Caucus occupied the Speaker of the House’s desk for approximately 90 minutes just prior to the scheduled start of Monday’s session. Unfurling a large “Black Lives Matter” banner, they railed on the lack of attention to their police reform proposals and, ultimately, caused postponement of that day’s order of business.
Ensuing closed-door talks resulted in the agreement to start debate next week on some of a suite of 19 bills that leadership believes has the best chance of getting significant bipartisan support in the Republican-controlled House. House Speaker Mike Turzai also pledged to ask Gov. Tom Wolf to call a special legislative session that could tackle other police reform issues, including:
- Elimination of “effectuating an arrest” as a justification for an officer’s use of deadly force against a suspect. in other words, a suspect couldn’t be shot at simply because he is trying to escape, and banning the use of chokeholds or other pressure on an arrestee’s airways as a method of detention.
- Establishing a mandatory, independent review process like the appointment of a special prosecutor for all officer-involved deaths, ending the practice of local district attorneys ruling on deaths at the hands of officers they work with regularly.
- Making police officers mandated reporters of any action of misconduct, corruption or brutality by another officer, similar to the requirement already imposed on doctors, teachers, coaches and child care workers regarding suspected cases of child abuse.
Kauffman didn’t immediately rule out or in eventual consideration of other bills in a telephone interview with PennLive Tuesday.
“These issues are certainly worthy of consideration,” he said, adding, “I think we’re going to have an appropriate conversation.”
This week’s spurt of action in the House is a byproduct of the last two weeks of protests across America and Pennsylvania over the May 25 death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, as he was being detained by Minneapolis police on suspicion of passing counterfeit money at a neighborhood store.
Floyd died after being held by former officer Derek Chauvin in a prone position on the street with Chauvin’s knee pressing on his neck for what video footage appears to show was more than eight minutes. Chauvin has since been dismissed from the force and arrested on second-degree murder charges.
Funeral services for Floyd were held Tuesday in Houston.
House Democratic Whip Jordan Harris and his colleagues have maintained they had to take extreme action Monday to show progress to their constituents.
“Bills have been languishing while black folk continue to have to deal with fearing for their lives when they interact with law enforcement," Harris, D-Philadelphia, said Monday. "Cities across this country are burning. I’m from Philadelphia. My city has been burnt. There’s been civil unrest all over. People are demanding action, so, we did what we could to take action.
House Republican leadership ultimately permitted Monday’s demonstration to go on, with Speaker Mike Turzai later referring to it as an act of “peaceful, civil disobedience.” They did work to prevent a repeat of the rostrum’s seizure Tuesday, however, as some members noted that doors to the House chamber were locked until session started, and even then House security officers were posted on either side of the rostrum.
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Pa. state House members get a small deposit on GOP’s pledge to air police reform bills - PennLive
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