Goodwin set to host interim study on law enforcement eform

OKLAHOMA CITY -- State Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, is set to host a virtual interim study on law enforcement reform at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The study will be held in the House Public Safety Committee.

“For generations, black and brown people interacting with officers are more disproportionately pained and impacted than our white counterparts when we are stopped, arrested, prosecuted, or killed,” said Goodwin. “We say the names of souls, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Eric Harris, Elliot Williams, Jeremy Lake, Joshua Barre, Joshua Harvey, Terence Crutcher, Derrick Scott, Robert Harris and so many more who were killed by the hands and knees of people sworn to uphold the law. Often, injustice beats us. We must keep pressing and enact good law and policy changes to gain justice.”

The focus of the study is to present credible information and insight to address challenges and injustices many Oklahomans face.

“I hope we can have bipartisan agreement to pass significant legislation in critical areas,” Goodwin said. “Whether its changes to qualified immunity, police union collective bargaining agreements, use-of-force, or body cams, we are going to have several capable presenters speak on issues and provide solutions hopeful to both the public and law enforcement. The good we do together makes Oklahoma better.”

Presenters, in alphabetical order, include Rhonda Bear, Stand in the Gap Ministries; Brett Behenna, attorney; Jacqueline Blocker, Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform; Chris Brown, Saint Francis Hospital; Sara Brown, She Brews Coffee; Tiffany Crutcher, Terence Crutcher Foundation; Drew Diamond, Jewish Federation of Tulsa/retired Tulsa Police Chief; Prof. Stephen Galoob, University of Tulsa School of Law; Loretta Radford, OKC University School of Law Criminal Justice Center/Former US Attorney; Former Speaker of the House Kris Steele, Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform.