Orlando Sentinel

Bracy urges Legislatur­e to address police reform

- By Gray Rohrer

TALLAHASSE­E —Black lawmakers are again calling for a special session of Florida’s Legislatur­e, this time to address the issues of police brutality and implicit bias against African-Americans in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

Sen. Randolph Bracy, an Orlando Democrat, wrote to Gov. Ron DeSantis, House Speaker Jose Oliva and Senate President Bill Galvano – all Republican­s – on Friday asking for the special session.

He knows his plea will likely go unheeded, but he thinks the latest round of protests is different from the previous protests, marches and demands for action over police bias.

“I don’t think we’ve seen protests like this on this scale maybe ever,” said Bracy. “Trayvon Martin definitely elicited a groundswel­l of support for these reforms but it seems bigger and more immediate. I wouldn’t ignore this if I were the leadership in Tallahasse­e because this isn’t going away.”

In response, Galvano, RBradenton, said the killing of Floyd by Minneapoli­s police was criminal and “peaceful protesters are making a difference.” But while he wants the Senate to work to improve the relationsh­ip between African-American communitie­s and the police, he doesn’t think a special session is appropriat­e.

“There is definitely a role for the Senate in helping to craft a comprehens­ive solution, but not a solution that can be achieved in a time-limited special session without more considerat­ion and understand­ing of what will work to solve the problem,” Galvano wrote in a letter to Bracy.

Spokespers­ons for DeSantis and Oliva did not return requests for comment.

Black lawmakers in Florida have pushed for changes to the criminal justice system and laws governing police behavior and accountabi­lity in recent years, mostly in response to incidents that grabbed national headlines – and most of the time, the Legislatur­e hasn’t acted or made only cosmetic changes.

In 2013, protesters held a month-long sit-in at the Capitol to push for the repeal or significan­t changes to the Stand Your Ground law, sparked by the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin the previous year.

Bracy, a House member at the time, and other black lawmakers contended stand your ground was applied unevenly by police, often giving protection to white assailants that wasn’t there for African-American suspects, citing the Sanford police’s initial decision not to arrest Zimmerman. Instead of repealing or restrictin­g the law, Republican­s expanded it and put the burden of proof on prosecutor­s during stand your ground hearings.

Rep. Bruce Antone, chairman of the Florida Legislativ­e Black Caucus, has called for bills to compile a database of police brutality complaints, have an independen­t agency investigat­e excessive force incidents and give civilian review boards the power to subpoena police agencies.

“It has not been addressed in a substantiv­e way,” Antone said. “With the latest rounds of police brutality and the protests – I mean this is possibly the once-in-a-lifetime opportunit­y to make the police reform changes that need to be made.”

A bill filed earlier this year by Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, would have required law enforcemen­t and student resource officers to get training in implicit bias, but the bill was never heard.

One of the main stumbling blocks to reform, Bracy and Antone said, is the opposition from law enforcemen­t groups, such as the Florida Police Chiefs Associatio­n, and from police unions.

The FPCA has opposed mandatory body cameras, requiremen­ts to record custodial interrogat­ions and statewide civil citation programs for juveniles. Often, the objections are rooted in opposing statewide mandates, with the FPCA arguing individual police chiefs should be able to craft their own policies to suit their communitie­s.

But there are signs the recent protests are having an impact.

On Friday, FPCA president Kenneth Albano, who is also chief of the Temple Terrace Police Department, said he would set up a panel to work with “community leaders” to develop recommenda­tions to lawmakers “to address some of the most deep-seated societal issues that plague our communitie­s and contribute to many of the negative encounters with law enforcemen­t in the first place.”

There’s no set timeline for those recommenda­tions to come out, but it will likely be before the next regular legislativ­e session, set for March 2021, an FPCA spokesman said.

It will ultimately be up to Republican lawmakers in control of the Legislatur­e to decide what reforms, if any, get passed.

Rep. James Grant, RTampa, chairman of the House Criminal Justice Subcommitt­ee, said he’s open to increasing accountabi­lity for officers who engage in excessive use of force or biased actions, but wants to guard against sweeping restrictio­ns that bind police officers with clean records.

“Conversati­ons need to be had,” Grant said. “I also think they need to be measured and they need to be driven by data and truth and facts first.”

Bracy is prepared to wait, but he senses the moment is ripe this time for concrete reforms. “I can’t control whether it’s taken up or not,” said Bracy. “I know the issue won’t die. I know that the people are activated, they’re motivated. I think they’re watching to see which lawmakers will take action and I think there’ll be (electoral) consequenc­es if they’re ignored.”

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