Bill Text: DE HJR4 | 2021-2022 | 151st General Assembly | Draft
Bill Title: Directing The Criminal Justice Council To Establish And Publish Integrity Reports Concerning Complaints Made Against Police Officers In Each Police Agency In This State And To Create And Publish A List Of Decertified Police Officers In This State.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-08-23 - Signed by Governor [HJR4 Detail]
Download: Delaware-2021-HJR4-Draft.html
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SPONSOR: |
Rep. Schwartzkopf & Rep. Cooke & Sen. Sokola & Sen. Paradee |
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 4
DIRECTING THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE COUNCIL TO ESTABLISH AND PUBLISH INTEGRITY REPORTS CONCERNING COMPLAINTS MADE AGAINST POLICE OFFICERS IN EACH POLICE AGENCY IN THIS STATE AND TO CREATE AND PUBLISH A LIST OF DECERTIFIED POLICE OFFICERS IN THIS STATE.
WHEREAS, Senate Bill 260 of the 150 th General Assembly created the Law Enforcement Accountability Task Force which was charged with studying Delaware law enforcement and making findings and recommendations to the General Assembly, the Governor, and law-enforcement agencies; and
WHEREAS, after months of study and meetings, the four subcommittees of the Law Enforcement Accountability Task Force, Use of Force and Imminent Danger, Workforce Development, Community Policing and Engagement, and Transparency and Accountability, voted on and made recommendations to the Task Force for consideration; and
WHEREAS, recommendations from all of the subcommittees included increased transparency with the Transparency and Accountability and the Community Policing subcommittees making specific recommendations for a database with information on complaints made against police officers and the decertification of police officers; and
WHEREAS, the Council on Police Training has the authority to suspend or revoke the certification of a police officer, but has no publicly available website that has a searchable list of police officers who have been decertified in this State; and
WHEREAS, most of the police agencies in this State do not have the number and disposition of complaints made against its police officers available to the public; and
WHEREAS, the names of decertified officers and the number and disposition of complaints made against police officers should be easily accessible to the public; and
WHEREAS, the Criminal Justice Council is an independent body committed to leading the criminal justice system through a collaborative approach that calls upon the experience and creativity of the Council, all components of the system, and the community, and is mandated to strive continually for an effective system that is fair, efficient, and accountable; and
WHEREAS, § 8705 of Title 11 provides that it is the duty of all officials of this State or any political subdivision thereof to furnish any information or compile any report which may be requested by the Criminal Justice Council; and
WHEREAS, the mission of the Statistical Analysis Center, which is located within the Criminal Justice Council, is to provide the State with a professional capability for objective, interpretive analysis relating to crime and criminal justice issues in order to improve the effectiveness of policy-making , program development, planning and reporting;
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the 151 st General Assembly of the State of Delaware, with the approval of the Governor that the Criminal Justice Council shall establish and publish integrity reports concerning the complaints made against police officers in each police agency in this State and create and publish a list of decertified officers in this State.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED pursuant to § 8705 of Title 11, every police agency in this State that employs a police officer as defined in § 8401 of Title 11 shall furnish to the Criminal Justice Council information requested by the Council concerning complaints made against any police officer in its agency for the previous 3 years and for every year beginning in 2021.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the information that shall be furnished to the Criminal Justice Council by each police agency shall be the total number of complaints filed and the disposition of each complaint, but may not include the names of any police officers.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Criminal Justice Council shall publish by November 2, 2021 on its publicly available website an integrity report detailing the information furnished by each police agency concerning complaints made against any of its police officers for the previous 3 years.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED beginning in 2021, the Criminal Justice Council shall publish on its publicly available website at least once each year an integrity report detailing the information furnished by each police agency concerning complaints made in the year against any of its police officers and the disposition of each complaint, but may not include the names of any police officers.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Council on Police Training shall furnish to the Criminal Justice Council a list of all police officers who have been decertified in this State in the previous 10 years, and shall notify the Criminal Justice Council when any police officer is decertified in this State.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Criminal Justice Council shall publish a searchable list of all decertified officers in this State in the previous 10 years on its publicly available website by November 1, 2021, and shall update the list upon notification by the Council on Police Training of the decertification of any police officer in this State.
SYNOPSIS
This Joint Resolution directs the Criminal Justice Council to establish and by November 2, 2021, publish integrity reports on the number of complaints made against police officers in each police agency in this State for the past 3 years, and at least once a year thereafter, and to create and publish a list of all decertified police officers in this State in the previous 10 years, which shall be updated upon notification of the decertification of any police officer.
