Initial Pa. police-reform bills after protests go to Wolf

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf will sign the first bills passed by Pennsylvania’s Legislature in response to widespread protests over police brutality and the killing of George Floyd, his office said.

The Senate passed the bills unanimously after the House passed both unanimously a week before.

One of the bills is designed to prevent bad officers from continuing to find employment in police departments.

Under the bill, a department must conduct background checks of job applicants that require an applicant’s former department to disclose information on the officer’s employment history. That history must include disciplinary actions, complaints and reasons for separation.

The Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Commission must maintain an electronic database containing that information, although the bill does not allow public access to the database as some other states now do.

The other bill requires officers to be trained every other year in how to interact with people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds and to receive annual instruction on de-escalation and harm-reduction techniques.

It also requires officers to undergo a mental health evaluation for post-traumatic stress disorder within 30 days of an incident in which the officer used lethal force or at the request of a supervisor.

An officer who shows symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder during an evaluation must wait for a licensed physician to clear them to resume full duties.