Senate must approve police legislation

There was nothing easy about the process that led the state House of Representatives to approve a bill Friday morning on police reform. The emotional debate lasted all through the night and the bill survived a major challenge before it was finally OK’d by a divided House, 86-58, on a nearly party line vote.

Difficult as the process was, it’s a necessary step forward on the road to legitimate accountability. Now the Senate, in its special session, needs to follow suit and approve the measure, which should then be signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont.

This, after all, is the main reason the Legislature is meeting at all. There were other actions taken by the House, on absentee ballots and health care, that were also necessary, but they passed easily and should just as quickly be approved by the Senate. But it was the protests against police brutality and overreach that were heard around the state and beyond that led the Legislature to this point. It is time for change.

The police reform bill would make sweeping changes aimed at holding officers accountable for misconduct, including by making them answerable to a new inspector general and local civilian review boards. The bill would also mandate new standards for the use of force and limit the ability of police to make searches during motor vehicle stops.

It is not, as proponents have made clear at every step of the process, “anti-cop.” No one is suggesting that police officers don’t have difficult jobs that sometimes require quick decision-making in life-or-death moments.

Opponents of the bill have said it would hurt recruitment, and cause good officers to leave the force. They argue that anyone not on the front lines of public safety has no idea what happens in the heat of the moment, and has no business offering second guesses.

With due respect, it’s likely that police and their supporters would make a similar argument about any proposed reform. In fact, other, less controversial aspects of the reform legislation — such as the discontinuation of a program where local police use military surplus equipment — have been similarly fought. The police don’t want reform, and it’s their right to push back.

But lawmakers need to stand strong. The awesome power society grants to police officers must come with oversight, and it is well within lawmakers’ rights to decide we need more of it. Changing the conditions under which officers can use deadly force, as the bill does, is a necessary step forward.

So, too, the most controversial aspect of the bill, the removal of qualified immunity for officers who face lawsuits, which was nearly removed from the bill overnight. As one advocate said, if officers don’t violate people’s rights, they will have nothing to worry about.

The task now goes to the state Senate, which can either pass the measure in full or, since the House has adjourned, pass nothing. Such an outcome would be a tragic missed opportunity. The people who have filled the streets in protest since the death of George Floyd have demanded reform, and the Legislature is meeting to fill that purpose.

It cannot go home empty-handed.

The awesome power society grants to police officers must come with oversight, and it is well within lawmakers’ rights to decide we need more of it.