Bipartisan Coalition Presents Police Reforms To Michigan Senate
A new 12-bill package has been introduced to the Michigan State Senate by a coalition of lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle, including Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Roger Victory of Hudsonville and ranking Democratic Sen. Stephanie Chang of Detroit, that would bring police reform to Michigan.
Representative Victory said in a statement:
This is an opportunity for us to unite to protect all Michiganders with proactive measures that will put in place the best practices from law enforcement agencies across our state.
Victory also sponsored a measure to set guidelines for the independent investigation of any officer-involved deaths. The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement would be responsible for setting these standards.
Among the laws favored by Republicans, are measures to ban chokeholds by police in Michigan and establishing a 'duty to intervene' when an officer witnesses or becomes aware of a fellow law enforcement officer's illegal actions.
Democrats sponsored a measure that bans 'no-knock warrants', the type of warrant involved in the death of Grand Rapids' native Breonna Taylor in Louisville, KY in March of 2020.
Dems also want the state to set standards for de-escalation training and techniques to combat 'implicit bias' that officers may unknowingly bring to the job.
The package of laws, aimed at reducing incidents of police misconduct, was presented on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's death on May 25th. The state of Michigan has not passed any type of police reform in that time period, despite efforts by both Michigan Democrats & Republicans to pass differing sets of laws.