Awful bill would make it even harder to report police abuse

[Cebu_4_2]

Awful bill would make it even harder to report police abuse

Kansas lawmakers are considering a bill (http://kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2698_00_0000.pdf) that would make it much harder for citizens to report instances of police abuse, while simultaneously putting internal affairs investigations at even greater risk of succumbing to police corruption.
House Bill No. 2698 would require citizens to swear an affidavit before submitting a complaint against an officer. If any part of the complaint is later shown to be erroneous, the citizen could be prosecuted.


Complaints will not be investigated until the accusers swear affidavits, according to the bill’s text.


It gets worse. The bill also establishes that police officers accused of abuse will never be questioned until after they have read and reviewed all aspects of the complaint. Ironically, this is exactly the opposite of how police interrogate citizens; suspects are never given the opportunity to review the entire case against them before being questioned.


The bill would also mandate that all investigations are final. If one police agency finds a cop to be innocent, no other agency would be allowed to review the case — even if the latter agency is a high authority, such as the state police.
Initial investigations of abuse cases often side with the officer. Later reviews — done by independent agencies further removed from the people involved — have a habit of reaching the opposite determination. This bill would put an end to that. (RELATED: Dashboard cam catches cops in unbelievable series of lies that led to man’s false arrest) (http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/27/dashboard-cam-catches-cops-in-unbelievable-series-of-lies-that-led-to-mans-false-arrest/#ixzz2wMK067H9)
(http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/27/dashboard-cam-catches-cops-in-unbelievable-series-of-lies-that-led-to-mans-false-arrest/#ixzz2wMK067H9)

The Washington Post’s Radley Balko (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/03/18/kansas-legislature-could-make-it-a-felony-to-report-unfounded-allegations-of-police-abuse/) described the bill as “awful:”


So you’re welcome to file a complaint. But the cop you’re complaining about will be investigated by his colleagues — and only his colleagues. If they find that he did nothing wrong, as they nearly always do, you could then be arrested for a felony.
I’m sure that people file false complaints against police officers quite often. This bill will almost certainly discourage that. But it will also almost certainly prevent legitimate victims of police abuse from coming forward, too.
Balko cited a statistic, uncovered by the website Kansas Exposed (http://kansasexposed.org/2014/03/17/kansas-bill-seeks-legalize-police-retaliation/), claiming that Wichita police rejected 100 of the last 100 racial profiling complaints. All of the people who made them could be subject to criminal prosecution if House Bill No. 2698 were in effect, and no other agency would be permitted to review the initial investigation.
What could go wrong?


No individual sponsor is listed on the bill. The entire House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice — which includes a dozen different representatives — introduced and is currently sponsoring the bill, according to the House website (http://kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/hb2698/).


Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/18/awful-bill-would-make-it-even-harder-to-report-police-abuse/#ixzz2wQd1T9sS

[Ares]

Do it!!!! Keep closing avenues to persecute violent officers. Then don't get surprised that no officer will pull over a vehicle, step inside a house, or even initiate a civilian contact without the threat of being killed. Taking away avenues of peaceful recourse will absolutely ensure violent recourse. It appears the state prefers their henchmen be the target of that violence instead of them.

If anyone reading this is an officer in Kansas, I STRONGLY recommend you look for employment else where. Because if this law passes your job is going to get a lot worse in a year or 2.

[Twisted Titan]

I dont know why...

Its not like lallegation or charges even stuck to begin with.

[madfranks]

Do it!!!! Keep closing avenues to persecute violent officers. Then don't get surprised that no officer will pull over a vehicle, step inside a house, or even initiate a civilian contact without the threat of being killed. Taking away avenues of peaceful recourse will absolutely ensure violent recourse. It appears the state prefers their henchmen be the target of that violence instead of them.

If anyone reading this is an officer in Kansas, I STRONGLY recommend you look for employment else where. Because if this law passes your job is going to get a lot worse in a year or 2.

Maybe I'm missing something, but how does this law make it more likely that cops will get killed? It appears to me that it will result in cops being able to bully and threaten harder than they do now, with less recourse for the victim.

[Cebu_4_2]

It appears to me that it will result in cops being able to bully and threaten harder than they do now, with less recourse for the victim.

That's exactly what this bill will do. Only option is to move out before the big guns come to the party.

[Ares]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how does this law make it more likely that cops will get killed? It appears to me that it will result in cops being able to bully and threaten harder than they do now, with less recourse for the victim.

Action / Reaction. Officer no longer friendly goes out roughs up or kills someone, or a family. They file an affidavit per this law, they miss a detail and are then prosecuted by the state. It will only take a few instances of this where people will come to the conclusion that they are left with no other alternative than to violently resist law enforcement officers in any and all forms. The state is setting a very dangerous precedent by going this route.

[mick silver]

i love it when i hear people say we are far from becoming a police state .......... my ass

[7th trump]

Nope, you guys are wrong. This bill will make it easier for the truth to come out.
Looking at this on the side of investigations this will make it harder for the cops to get away with brutality.

If a cop is reported and an affidavit is signed then the cop has to go up against your sworn affidavit whereas before it was the cops word against your word...and we all know the cops word, as right now, always trumps your word.
An affidavit has to be taken into account and couple that with eyewitnesses testimony?
Cops are getting sqeezed by this, but I dont have much faith with much of you on this forum as you never think anything through.
Like I said before ...when the SHTF I do not want to be around any one of you any more than being around thugs....you think the same!

[Ares]

Nope, you guys are wrong. This bill will make it easier for the truth to come out.
Looking at this on the side of investigations this will make it harder for the cops to get away with brutality.

If a cop is reported and an affidavit is signed then the cop has to go up against your sworn affidavit whereas before it was the cops word against your word...and we all know the cops word, as right now, always trumps your word.
An affidavit has to be taken into account and couple that with eyewitnesses testimony?
Cops are getting sqeezed by this, but I dont have much faith with much of you on this forum as you never think anything through.
Like I said before ...when the SHTF I do not want to be around any one of you any more than being around thugs....you think the same!

I beg to differ. How is this bill going to squeeze the police? Particularly this section here:

"would require citizens to swear an affidavit before submitting a complaint against an officer. If any part of the complaint is later shown to be erroneous, the citizen could be prosecuted."

We all know how splitting hairs is a favorite past time of those in the legal world when it comes to language. Say for example a victim files said affidavit and swears that he or she was struck in the head. Officer could say that he only hit him / her in the face. It would be ruled erroneous and the victim would become a victim again by the court system.

Not to mention this little gem:
"It gets worse. The bill also establishes that police officers accused of abuse will never be questioned until after they have read and reviewed all aspects of the complaint. Ironically, this is exactly the opposite of how police interrogate citizens; suspects are never given the opportunity to review the entire case against them before being questioned."

What kind of shit is that? The cop gets to read the case about him, build his defense before even answering the complaint? Total bullshit.

I'd be inclined to remove Internal Affairs all together as well as police in general. But if we HAVE to have police then have an outside independent agency audit, persecute the offenders who wear a costume.