On the final day of special session, Senate Republicans passed an agreed-upon set of police reforms.

Last special session, the Senate passed several bills to ban chokeholds, require a duty to intervene, report the use of excessive force by a fellow police officer, and require consideration of the sanctity of life before using force. The Senate also added community members to the POST board (Police Officer Standards and Training) and required the POST Board to create a uniform use of force policy for the state’s law enforcement agencies. To support peace officers, the Senate previously included more training on crisis response and flexibility to seek help from a variety of resources. 

“We greatly appreciate the support law enforcement provides our communities,” said Senator Bruce Anderson. “These reforms will not hinder their ability to adequately protect the public but rather improves training and engages community involvement to restore trust and continue improving our criminal justice system.”

The agreed-upon legislation starts with 10 of the 11 provisions originally supported by the Senate in the previous special session, and includes five additional major reforms to policing:

• Ban the use of “warrior” style training
• POST Board membership changes to create the Ensuring Police Excellence and Improving Community Relations Advisory Council; adds a member from the public to the POST board Complaint Investigation Committee
• Create a POST board database of public, anonymized peace officer data
• Authorizes local municipalities to provide residency incentives for peace officers to live in the communities they serve
• Establishes an independent investigatory unit in the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension