Police ‘Bill Of Rights' Reform Passes House

By Wesley Muller, Louisiana Illuminator

May 10, 2021

A bill to reform Louisiana’s police officer “bill of rights” narrowly cleared the first half of its legislative journey with House lawmakers approving the measure on Monday. The legislation proposes changes to the way internal affairs investigations are conducted within municipal police departments.

House Bill 430, sponsored by Rep. Ted James, D-Baton Rouge, was approved in a 56-45 vote and sent to the Senate for consideration. Despite significant opposition, the bill did not draw much debate during its consideration on the House floor.

James answered a few questions from other lawmakers and emphasized that the legislation has the full support of the Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police. The bill is comprised of reforms that were studied and recommended by the Police Training Screening and De-escalation Task Force, a 25-member panel that the legislature established in response to national outcry at the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Among other things, the bill proposes to change the length of time given to an officer under internal investigation to obtain an attorney, reducing it from 30 to 14 days, before the officer has to answer any questions. It would also extend the length of time allowed to complete internal investigations, from 60 to 75 days.

Further, the legislation would require all sustained complaints — that is those made against an officer that are supported by evidence — to remain in the officer’s personnel file for at least 10 years. When Thibodeaux Rep. Bryan Fontenot asked about the intent of this specific proposal on Monday, James said the public has a right to know if a particular officer has a history of complaints or misconduct.

In September the task force heard testimony from officials with the Fraternal Order of Police, the Louisiana State Police Commission, Baton Rouge Crime Stoppers and the Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police. All were experienced administrators with knowledge of law enforcement internal affairs, and they were nearly unanimous in saying that the 60-day time deadline to complete internal investigations that’s now imposed by the so-called officer bill of rights doesn’t leave them enough time to complete an internal investigation.

“The chiefs said they needed more time,” James said Monday.

Currently, Louisiana law not only limits a police department to a 60-day deadline to conduct and complete an internal investigation, but it also gives an officer 30 days to find an attorney before answering any questions. Under these current time constraints, James said Monday, an officer can purposefully wait until day 29 to hire a lawyer, thereby eating up half the time a department has to investigate the matter.

The legislation would apply only to municipal police officers because parish deputies are not governed under the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service rules and the officer bill of rights, nor are they protected by unions, James said. State police troopers are governed under the State Police Commission.

“I agree that there should probably be some uniformity, but that’s a conversation for another year,” he said on the floor.

James’ bill is one of several making its way through the legislature this session. The Senate passed a reform bill that would prohibit chokeholds, no-knock warrants and require officers to train how to intervene when witnessing misconduct.

The most significant reform measure is contained in House Bill 609, which would dismantle qualified immunity — a doctrine that essentially blocks lawsuits against officers who wrongfully kill or injure citizens. It is scheduled for debate on the floor of the House Tuesday.

The Louisiana Illuminator is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization driven by its mission to cast light on how decisions are made in Baton Rouge and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians, particularly those who are poor or otherwise marginalized.