The law requires mandatory de-escalation training, punishes police officers who turn off their body cameras with an intent to conceal, and bars police officers from using chokeholds unless they are in a life or death situation.
Will create more accountability for police officers.
I talked with a local police chief and the sheriff to get their take on the legislation.
Ever since the death of george floyd states across the country have been looking at ways to hold police more accountable.
"the last thing any officer wants to do is get in engaged with is a physical altercation because when that happens the risk of injury goes up not just for the officer but for innocent by standards and for suspects themselves."-flannelly house bill 1006 which was signed in to law requires mandatory de-escalation training.
This is a practice police agencies in tippecanoe county say they already have in place.
"we incorporate de- escalation training in all of the defensive tactics that we do fire arms training that we do.
So it's something we have been doing for quite a while anyway."-bob goldsmith "mandating that training finding the best training that's available i think is very important and we will be excited to add to our curriculum for what we are already doing.
Law also punishes police officers who turn off their body cameras with an intent to conceal.
Under the law officers that do so could be charged with a class a misdemeanor.
It also bars police officers from using chokeholds (unless( they are in a life or death situation.
Banning them completely was not something chiefs in indiana were in favor of.
"if you ban chokeholds what you are saying is i can use my fire arm to a level of deadly force but i can't use a chokehold.
So when you think of it in those terms it doesn't make sense."
Lafayette police chief patric says..
Law makers worked directly with law enforcement professionals when writing this legislation.
He feels this new law is something that will make policing in the state better.
"house bill 1006 did a really good job of finding some things that needed to be improved upon and i think we struck a balance there so i think we are all pretty satisfied with the results of this legislation"-flanelly.
The law also includes $70 million to help the indiana law enforcement academy.
Those funds will be used to upgrade the nearly 50- year-old facility and implementing this new legislation.
