‘It’s a new day’: Pa. lawmakers to tackle police reform in wake of George Floyd’s death

Once through the committee, the legislation appears likely to be put to a vote by the full House the following week and can be sent to the Senate.

• By Jan Murphy/Pennlive

One week after black lawmakers commandeered the rostrum in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives chamber to demand action on police reform, they will see their peaceful demonstration begin to pay off.

Today, the House Judiciary Committee will consider some bills that would make long-desired changes to policing and police practices.

If approved, as is expected, the legislation could be positioned for a vote by the full House before the one-month anniversary of May 25, the day George Floyd died after being pinned on a Minneapolis street under police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee, with it all captured on video for the world to see.

Then, later this week, the Senate Judiciary and Law and Justice committees will hold a two-day hearing to vet potential public safety reforms it might consider arising out of Floyd’s death and the subsequent protests it has sparked across the nation and world.

After years of seeing legislation to address the need for more police accountability and crackdown on police brutality languish, House Minority Whip Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, is calling it a “new day” and one that citizens, businesses, and corporations are seizing to force changes to address racial inequities.

“Policing reform is a start and there’s a lot we can get done there but I think it’s a new day in our commonwealth and quite honestly in our country with how we address the issues of those who are marginalized and I think more people are paying attention to that,” he said. “So I think it’s important as a legislative body that we recognize those things and address those things.”

Rep. Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin County, who chairs the judiciary committee in the House, said the committee today will consider two bills that are expected to be amended to include other proposed police reforms.

Once through the committee, the legislation appears likely to be put to a vote by the full House the following week and can be sent to the Senate.

One of the bills the committee will consider is House Bill 1841.It closes a loophole in current law that allows former employers to withhold information on complaints or disciplinary actions involving an officer out of fear of civil liability.

It would require law enforcement agencies to make full disclosure of any current or former officer’s personnel files for hiring background checks without having to fear getting sued for sharing that information with another department looking to hire the officer.

An amendment, still being worked on at least as late as Friday afternoon, would create a database of officers who have demonstrated documented patterns of excessive use of force or other misconduct. It would be maintained by the Office of Attorney General and law enforcement agencies would be required to check it before hiring an officer.

This idea of a database has the support of several law enforcement organizations that are part of a coalition formed by Attorney General Josh Shapiro. The Pennsylvania State Troopers Association is among them.

“Officers who engage in misconduct or use excessive force erode trust in law enforcement and make it harder for our communities to be and feel safe,” the troopers association said in a news release. “When they leave an agency, or retire in lieu of termination, that record needs to go with them. We stand united in calling for reform of the hiring process so that law enforcement agencies have the information to make informed decisions about the personnel they hire.”

The other bill the committee will consider, House Bill 1910, would require training for police officers to recognize signs of child abuse and become mandated reporters of suspected abuse and neglect much like school teachers and others are. An amendment expected to be considered to that bill wouldrequire police officers to be tested for post-traumatic stress disorder every two years and within 30 days of any lethal use-of-force incident.

“Whatever we do, we want to make sure it’s good and will actually work and very frankly, most police organizations are supportive of those kind of things as well,” Kauffman said.

Les Neri, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania State Lodge, agreed that his organization is always pursuing ways to improve its profession and willing to consider common sense solutions to problems that may exist with policing in this state. But that’s where it gets confusing for him, he said.

“The Pennsylvania Legislature, some members of it, are reacting to situations and environments outside of Pennsylvania,” Neri said. “When anybody moves too fast to address problems they haven’t properly identified and solutions that haven’t been properly vetted, I think that makes it dangerous for everybody.”

Still, he said they are reviewing the legislation under consideration in the House and look forward to offering some testimony at a Senate hearing to be held on Wednesday and Thursday that will evaluate potential reforms as well as review laws on the books for weaknesses and ways they could be improved.

“Pennsylvania desperately needs constructive conversation about finding a balance in police and community relations and taking effective steps to deal with biases seen in the law, procedure, and attitudes that perpetuate the corrosive racial divide that diminishes the value and scope of freedom for everyone,” said Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne County, who chairs the judiciary committee.

“We do not want to simply run legislation so we can pat ourselves on the back nor do we want to stick our head in the sand,” Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Westmoreland County, who chairs the law and justice committee.

“Rather we want to engage in a thoughtful process. That means gathering information by bringing all sides together. It’s an emotional and personal issue. We need to gather the evidence to take us from a thoughtful process to thoughtful legislation.”

Sens. Art Haywood, D-Philadelphia, and Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington County, who chair the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus and are members of the judiciary committee, pledged to work in bipartisan fashion to address necessary policing reforms and restore the trust broken between police and communities by Floyd’s death.

“All people should be treated with dignity and respect,” Haywood said in a statement. “It is time for police departments to provide proper training, use-of-force policies and de-escalation tactics. Black lives matter. Proper policing methods must be established to make appropriate recommendations.”

“We must begin to listen to each other’s experiences so that we can move forward together and stronger,” Bartolotta said in the statement.

Even with the attention that police reform is getting in both chambers in an unusually expedited fashion, Harris and other House members , including retiring House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County, are urging Gov. Tom Wolf to call a special session to “give laser beam focus,” as Harris said, on other police reform issues.

“There’s power in my view to at least making that declaration that we’re going to come to the people’s house, the people’s senate and we’re only going to discuss this issue because it is of that great importance,” Harris said.

While not on the House Judiciary Committee’s agenda for action on Monday, other police reforms Harris and other House Democratic members would like to see include establishing a mandatory, independent review process like the appointment of a special prosecutor for all officer-involved deaths.

A bill Harris himself will soon introduce would end the blanket qualified immunity for the use of unjustified or excessive force that results in serious bodily injury or death. Qualified immunity prevents government officials, including law enforcement, from being held personally liable for breaking the law.

“This prevents bad actors from being held accountable and leads to systemic abuse, which unevenly impacts black and brown communities in Pennsylvania,” Harris said.

Other reform bills that have been offered would eliminate “effectuating an arrest” as a justification for an officer’s use of deadly force against a suspect, meaning 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.

Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate said they think faster action can be taken outside a special session. Wolf, who has offered his own law enforcement reform agenda that includes many of the same ideas in play in the House, said he is willing to call for a special session if asked by a majority of members of both chambers.

To date, the Legislature has called 17 special sessions over the past 60 years to focus on public policy issues. Many of them have failed to be productive and filled with days where a chamber gavels in and immediately gavels out without taking action on any legislation.

Harris is optimistic that wouldn’t be the case with this issue.

“Leaders would be hard pressed to gavel in and gavel out on such an important issue,” he said. “It would be grave mistake in my mind.”

PennLive and The Patriot-News are partners with PA Post.