Will Justice Be Served? Texas Gov. Signs A New Bill To Fine Cops For Not Reporting Shootings
In an effort to increase accountability and transparency when it comes to police-involved shootings, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 245. The new measure requires law enforcement agencies to report all police shootings to the state attorney general within 30 days or face a hefty fine of $1,000 per day—repeated infractions will draw stiffer penalties.
The 30-day rule was enacted in September 2015 with the passing of H.B. 1036 but did not include the fines, which will be in place starting September 1, 2017. The latest bill was authored by State Rep. Eric Johnson (TX-D) to make more accurate data available in order to study instances of police brutality.
"I'm glad that he signed the bill," Johnson said. "[A]nd I believe that we're on our way to leading the nation in getting to the bottom of what causes these fatal encounters between police and citizens, because we're going to have the data."
Prior to September 2015, there were gross inconsistencies in both reporting and record-keeping of police shootings. Some departments were notorious for turning down requests for public information. The information they did release was heavily restricted and practically useless.
In spite of some initial opposition, the bill eventually passed both the House and the Senate with relative ease. Johnson gives a lot of credit to Gov. Abbott for supporting the measure. "This legislation goes a long way towards my goal of making Texas the best state in the nation when it comes to collecting data on fatal interactions between civilians and law enforcement," he said.
The state has some work to do in this area. According to Killed By Police.com, 571 people have died at the hands of police so far this year with most of those overwhelmingly caused by gunfire. Around 50 of those shootings happened in the Lone Star State.
Considering that Abbott is a staunch supporter of law enforcement dating back to his days as the state attorney general, signing H.B. 245 suggests that Texas might be ready to make a bit of progress in this area. "I was on pins and needles because Gov. Abbott is the former chief law enforcement officer in our state, and he has a reputation for being pro-law enforcement," Johnson told The Root.
H.B. 245 sponsor Sen. John Whitmire (TX-D) believes that implementation should be easy. "We've never been able to gather the data on police shootings and serious incidents, and now we can," he said. "I hope no one has to pay the fine. If they just report their data of the shootings, we will be able to reach further decision-making to what other steps need to be taken."
That will likely be easier said than done. Texans are already up against institutionalized racism, bigotry, and the ever-present Blue Wall. And the governor has just passed a ban on "sanctuary cities" who refuse to question suspects about their immigration statuses.
No doubt this is slow progress, but at least there is a greater measure of accountability in place. If nothing else, perhaps there will be a small ripple effect and other states will follow suit.
