Call To Action on the One-Year Anniversary of George Floyd’s Death

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin’s murder and manslaughter convictions delivered some justice to Mr. Floyd’s family, but nationwide meaningful police reform continues to be necessary. Police body cameras, appropriate, standard policies on use of force, public disclosure of police misconduct proceedings, and civilian review boards continue to be lacking, both around the country and in Delaware.

In Delaware, the Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights (LEOBOR) prevents disclosure to the public of misconduct complaints against police, even when they have been substantiated and discipline has been imposed. Although 15 other states have enacted some version of LEOBOR, only Delaware’s statute prevents any form of disclosure of police misconduct to the public. Further, all proceedings are internal and there is no civilian participation.

The legislature convened a task force on law enforcement accountability and transparency in the wake of Mr. Floyd’s death. The recommendations of its various subcommittees recently were delivered to the full task force, but after a year of discussion and deliberation, the task force did not approve two important recommendations of the Transparency and Accountability Subcommittee: to review and amend the Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights to increase transparency and accountability and to create civilian review boards. Instead, the task force accepted recommendations from two other subcommittees to permit limited disclosure of misconduct complaints to defense attorneys where the misconduct might be a defense or mitigating factor in a criminal trial, and to create “advisory councils,” not civilian review boards.

The legislature as a whole is not bound to accept the task force’s recommendations; it can draft different legislation. Senators Lockman and Pinkney and Representatives Johnson and Dorsey Walker have introduced three important bills today:

1. Rep. Kendra Johnson and Sen. Tizzy Lockman have sponsored SB149, amending LEOBOR to remove its confidentiality clause, to ensure that prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys have access to these records, to ensure that the public has access through corresponding amendments to Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act, and to add affirmative language that these are public records.

2. Senator Marie Pinkney and Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker have introduced SB148, expanding the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust’s responsibility to review deadly use of force incidents by law enforcement by adding review of cases involving serious physical injury and by requiring information on the race of the law enforcement officer and person on whom forced was used, if a report is made public.

3. Senator Pinkney and Rep. Dorsey Walker also have introduced SB147, to make clear that in use of force cases, the determination of the state of mind of the person using force is an objective standard —that is, what a reasonable person would have believed, rather than what the defendant believed.

4. In addition, HB195, previously introduced by Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker, mandates the use of body cameras for certain police and corrections personnel, is pending in the House Appropriations Committee.

All of these bills will increase police accountability and transparency and if enacted will increase public trust in the police and help to cure the estrangement between the public and police. At a minimum, the public should have access to substantiated police misconduct where some discipline has been imposed. There also should be civilian review boards: other professions regulate their members with boards that consist of both professionals and non-professionals. We also urge you to contact the representatives in the House Appropriations Committee, as well as your own representatives, to express support of HB195, SB147, SB148, and SB147.

The contact information for Sussex legislators and the House Appropriations Committee members is below.