On February 25, Associate Policy Director Sarah Sample testified before the Judiciary Committee in support of HB 985 – Police Discipline – Administrative Charging Committees – Additional Charging Committee with amendments.
This bill allows a county to authorize the use of an additional Administrative Charging Committee (ACC) to review investigations into police misconduct that are the result of a civilian complaint. Counties urge some clarifying amendments to ensure proper implementation of this facet, when needed.
While the challenges differ across jurisdictions, the timeline concerns, in varying ways, have hindered the process. Unfortunately, this has the impact of either missing the charging deadline or rushing the review process. Both instances serve to undermine the quality of civilian oversight, which erodes public trust, which is counter to the intent of the process.
Counties know this will be a useful tool but offer one amendment. The bill should explicitly state that the auxiliary ACC is subject to all the same standards and requirements enacted locally, for the primary ACC, regardless of how often the authorization is employed or the time frame in operation.
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