The Oklahoman

Could Legislatur­e address police reform next year?

- By Carmen Forman Staff writer cforman@oklahoman.com

The leader of Oklahoma's Senate on Wednesday set the stage for legislativ­e discussion­s on police reform.

Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, led an interim study on law enforcemen­t policies, in which experts on law enforcemen­t and state legislatur­es across the country shared dozens of ideas for how to improve state and local law enforcemen­t.

Whether those ideas will become legislatio­n in time for the 2021 legislativ­e session that begins in February is yet to be determined, Treat said.

Legislator­s often hold interim studies to explore issues of interest, especially if they are considerin­g legislatio­n on that topic.

“I am not the expert, but I do want to have a conversati­on in the Senate including law enforcemen­t, including victims, including members of the minority community,” Treat said. “We must be able to trust each other and trust that law enforcemen­t is there for the betterment of the community.”

Treat said the key to a productive discussion on police reform is depolitici­zing the issue that has become one of the most hot-button political topics this year following national calls for racial justice amid police killings.

One of the speakers at Wednesday' s legislativ­e panel was a Democratic legislator from Colorado who helped craft a broad new law to improve police accountabi­lity and transparen­cy. The law from Colorado Rep. Leslie Harrod, who is Black, bans t he use of chokeholds and bars police from using deadly force against suspects in most instances.

The measure also requires state and local officers to be equipped with body cameras by 2023 and eliminates qualified immunity that protects police officers from lawsuits.

Treat has no plans to duplicate the Colorado legislatio­n, saying ending qualified immunity may not work in Oklahoma. But Treat is intrigued at the idea of reforming the Oklahoma

Council on Law Enforcemen­t Education and Training in order to raise law enforcemen­t standards.

Treat said others seemed surprised he had invited a Democrat to speak. It's going to take everyone getting involved to have a serious conversati­on about police reform, he said.

“I'm a Republican, and I very much believe in the tenets of the Republican Party, but we cannot ignore other voices in the community,” Treat said. “We've got to be really good at listening. It can't just be boiled down to a simple phrase one way or another.”

More than 30 states and the District of Columbia have introduced police reform legislatio­n this year, said Amber Widgery, of the National Conference of State Legislatur­es. Widery, who specialize­s in criminal justice policy, outlined some of the reforms being considered in other states.

Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said he' s interest ed in making it easier for law enforcemen­t entities to share informatio­n on employees who were fired for misconduct.

Paxton also warned his colleagues that enacting police reforms won't be easy.

“We're going to get a lot of pressure to leave things along, leave things the way they are,” he said .“It takes one bad cop, one time to bring down the whole profession in this state.”

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