LIVE STREAMING
Philadelphia Police Academy graduation. Photo: AL DÍA News

No police ID after shooting may soon be the law of the land

Rep. Martina White's controversial bill sailed through the House with a 162-38 vote.

MORE IN THIS SECTION

Cargos por ser demostrados

Temporary Protected Status

The Economy is Stuck

A Great Win For Small Biz

Good Bye To A Problem Solver

SHARE THIS CONTENT:

The controversial bill introduced by newly minted State Rep. Martina White (R-Phila) is one step closer to becoming law. Last week the bill cruised easily through its first committee hearing, and Tuesday it passed through the House with a 162-38 vote.

Under the bill, police departments statewide would not be allowed to release the names of officers under investigation for discharging their weapons, except under limited circumstances.

“This is an appropriate step forward in protecting the identities of police officers until they are either charged with an offense or cleared and any threats against the officer or their families have dissipated,” White said in a statement.

Police watchdogs and transparency advocates say that the bill would allow police departments to further hide malfeasance.

Rep. Brian Sims (D-Phila) and Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) were among the few legislators to argue that the bill would further divide the trust between the police and the communities, Raging Chicken Press reported from Harrisburg. Both representatives urged the house to vote against the bill.

The majority of Philadelphia representatives vetoed the bill along with Sims.

Among the 38 nay votes were State Reps. Angel Cruz, Leslie Acosta, Rosita Youngblood, Dwight Evans, W. Curtis Thomas, William F. Keller, Jordan Harris, James R. Roebuck Jr, Joanna E. McClinton, Louise Williams Bishop, Pamela A. Delissio, Donna Bullock, and Cherelle Parker.

But White didn't need much support from fellow Philadelphia legislators. The bill now moves to the senate for a vote, and then to the governor’s office for final passage.

Where did the need for the bill come from?

A few months ago, PPD Commissioner Charles Ramsey agreed to release the names of such officers within three days of a shooting, pending that their lives aren’t at risk. The FOP Lodge in Philadelphia immediately slammed the city's top cop for this decision.

The White bill was drafted shortly after.

“As we’ve seen across the country, shootings involving police officers have become so politically charged that the officers’ lives and their families can be endangered even if the use of force was justified,” White said following Tuesday's House win.  “While we need transparency whenever police are involved in a shooting, we owe our officers basic protection from threats.  My bill offers a way to protect them until the facts come out.  I want to protect the good officers from being tried in public, while making sure those who break the law are tried in court.”

Ramsey does not support it. He has concerns about what it means for departmental transparency, which has been one of the defining fights of his tenure in Philadelphia. White responded by putting forward an amendment in last week's committee hearing that specifies two things. Any officer charged with a crime will have his or her name immediately released. Secondly, if an officer is not charged with a crime and there is no public threat to the officer's safety, the officer's name will be released following the police department's internal investigation.

"The officer's name will not be held in perpetuity," said Dave Foster, the press spokesperson for Rep. White.

Who determines the public threat to an officer? Foster says the onus will be on local police commissioners and their executive staff.

White, whose legislation was backed by both the state FOP and FOP Lodge 5 in Philly, says her bill aims to protect families more than anything. If an officer is under investigation for a shooting and the public learns where he lives, now the family of the officer has to deal with the limelight — not to mention the potential harassment that could follow.

  • LEAVE A COMMENT:

  • Join the discussion! Leave a comment.

  • or
  • REGISTER
  • to comment.
  • LEAVE A COMMENT:

  • Join the discussion! Leave a comment.

  • or
  • REGISTER
  • to comment.
00:00 / 00:00
Ads destiny link