Bill Text: IA SF568 | 2019-2020 | 88th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to officer-involved shootings and officer-involved critical incidents. (Formerly SSB 1198.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-15 - Subcommittee: Dawson, Kinney, and Whiting. S.J. 87. [SF568 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2019-SF568-Introduced.html
Senate File 568 - Introduced SENATE FILE 568 BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1198) A BILL FOR An Act relating to officer-involved shootings and 1 officer-involved critical incidents. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2342SV (2) 88 as/rh
S.F. 568 Section 1. Section 80B.11, subsection 1, Code 2019, is 1 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 2 NEW PARAGRAPH . m. Minimum educational standards for 3 peace officers investigating officer-involved shootings or 4 officer-involved critical incidents. 5 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 80H.1 Peace officer-involved shootings 6 and officer-involved critical incidents —— investigations. 7 1. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise 8 requires: 9 a. “Department” means the department of public safety. 10 b. “Division” means the division of criminal investigation 11 of the department of public safety. 12 c. “Officer-involved critical incident” means any of the 13 following in the officer’s official capacity as a peace 14 officer: 15 (1) The use of a dangerous weapon by an officer against a 16 person that causes a serious bodily injury to any person. 17 (2) A fatal injury to any person except the officer 18 resulting from the use of a motor vehicle by an officer. 19 (3) The death of a person who is in law enforcement 20 custody, but not including a death that is the result of 21 disease, natural causes, or conditions that have been medically 22 diagnosed prior to the person’s death. 23 (4) A fatal injury to a person resulting from the efforts 24 of an officer attempting to prevent a person’s escape from 25 custody, make an arrest, or otherwise gain physical control of 26 a person. 27 d. “Officer-involved shooting” means the discharge of a 28 firearm by an officer that results in serious bodily injury 29 or death of a person, including an accidental discharge of a 30 firearm. 31 e. “Peace officer” or “officer” means the same as defined 32 in section 801.4. 33 f. “Serious bodily injury” means an injury that creates a 34 substantial risk of death or is otherwise life-threatening. 35 -1- LSB 2342SV (2) 88 as/rh 1/ 6
S.F. 568 2. A chief of police, sheriff, or head of any law 1 enforcement agency shall report an officer-involved shooting 2 or officer-involved critical incident to the division within 3 twenty-four hours of the incident. 4 3. The division may commence a criminal investigation of an 5 officer-involved shooting or officer-involved critical incident 6 in this state upon request of the attorney general, a county 7 attorney, a chief of police, a sheriff, or the head of any 8 other law enforcement agency. 9 4. The peace officer in charge of investigating an 10 officer-involved shooting or officer-involved critical incident 11 shall notify the attorney general and county attorney of the 12 investigation. 13 5. The peace officer in charge of investigating an 14 officer-involved shooting or officer-involved critical 15 incident may request that the officer who is the subject of an 16 officer-involved shooting or officer-involved critical incident 17 investigation submit to a voluntary interview as part of the 18 investigation. 19 6. The peace officer in charge of investigating an 20 officer-involved shooting or officer-involved critical incident 21 shall allow a reasonable opportunity for the officer who is 22 under investigation to secure legal counsel in advance of an 23 interview. 24 7. Upon request, an officer who is the subject of an 25 investigation or the officer’s legal counsel shall have the 26 right to immediately receive from the employing agency, at no 27 charge, a certified copy of the officer-involved video and 28 audio recordings, including any body-worn camera video and 29 radio traffic recordings, to use in the officer’s defense. 30 The requested video and audio recordings shall be provided 31 by the employing agency at least forty-eight hours prior to 32 an interview, interrogation, or grand jury proceeding. The 33 officer and officer’s legal counsel shall not release any 34 confidential video and audio recordings to the public without 35 -2- LSB 2342SV (2) 88 as/rh 2/ 6
S.F. 568 the written consent of the lawful records custodian or a court 1 order authorizing the release. 2 8. The department shall keep the name of an officer involved 3 in a shooting or a critical incident confidential until the 4 officer has been interviewed or interrogated as part of the 5 investigation, or until the officer or the officer’s legal 6 counsel declines a voluntary interview. The department and 7 the officer’s employing agency shall keep the home address and 8 personal contact information of the officer confidential. 9 9. The law enforcement agency employing an officer involved 10 in a shooting or a critical incident shall promptly offer 11 to the officer confidential peer support and confidential 12 counseling at no charge to the officer. 13 10. The department shall develop and maintain a searchable 14 database providing statistics and demographic information 15 for each officer-involved shooting and each officer-involved 16 critical incident reported each calendar year and shall update 17 the database at least quarterly. The commissioner of the 18 department shall post the database on the department’s internet 19 site. The department shall not report personally identifying 20 information of an officer involved in a shooting or a critical 21 incident or of any other person involved. 22 11. The Iowa law enforcement academy shall develop and 23 promulgate minimum educational standards for any peace officer 24 performing officer-involved shooting or officer-involved 25 critical incident investigations. An employing law enforcement 26 agency shall provide periodic training to a peace officer 27 performing officer-involved shooting or officer-involved 28 critical incident investigations and any supervisor who 29 may respond to a report of an officer-involved shooting or 30 officer-involved critical incident. 31 EXPLANATION 32 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 33 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 34 This bill relates to officer-involved shootings and 35 -3- LSB 2342SV (2) 88 as/rh 3/ 6
S.F. 568 officer-involved critical incidents. 1 The bill defines “officer-involved critical incident” as any 2 of the following in the officer’s official capacity as a peace 3 officer: the use of a dangerous weapon by an officer against 4 a person that causes a serious bodily injury to any person; a 5 fatal injury to any person except the officer resulting from 6 the use of a motor vehicle by an officer; the death of a person 7 who is in law enforcement custody, but not including a death 8 that is the result of disease, natural causes, or conditions 9 that have been medically diagnosed prior to the person’s death; 10 or a fatal injury to a person resulting from the efforts of an 11 officer attempting to prevent a person’s escape from custody, 12 make an arrest, or otherwise gain physical control of a person. 13 “Officer-involved shooting” is defined as the discharge of a 14 firearm by an officer that results in serious bodily injury 15 or death of a person, including an accidental discharge of 16 a firearm. “Serious bodily injury” is defined as an injury 17 that creates a substantial risk of death or is otherwise 18 life-threatening. 19 The bill provides that the chief of police, sheriff, or head 20 of any law enforcement agency shall report an officer-involved 21 shooting or officer-involved critical incident to the division 22 of criminal investigation of the department of public safety 23 (division) within 24 hours of the incident. The division 24 may commence an investigation upon request by the attorney 25 general, a county attorney, a chief of police, a sheriff, 26 or the head of any other law enforcement agency. The peace 27 officer in charge of investigating an officer-involved 28 shooting or officer-involved critical incident shall notify 29 the attorney general and county attorney of the investigation, 30 and may request that the officer who is the subject of the 31 investigation submit to a voluntary interview. The officer 32 who is the subject of the investigation shall be allowed a 33 reasonable opportunity to secure legal counsel in advance of 34 an interview or interrogation. 35 -4- LSB 2342SV (2) 88 as/rh 4/ 6
S.F. 568 The bill provides that upon request, an officer who is the 1 subject of an investigation or the officer’s legal counsel 2 shall have the right to receive from the employing agency, 3 at least 48 hours prior to an interview, interrogation, or 4 grand jury proceeding, at no charge, a certified copy of 5 the officer-involved video and audio recordings, including 6 body-worn camera video and radio traffic recordings, to use in 7 the officer’s defense. The officer and officer’s legal counsel 8 shall not release any confidential video and audio recordings 9 to the public without the written consent of the lawful records 10 custodian or a court order authorizing the release. 11 The bill provides that the department of public safety 12 (department) shall keep the name of an officer involved in a 13 shooting or critical incident confidential until the officer 14 has been interviewed or interrogated as part of the criminal 15 investigation, or until the officer or the officer’s legal 16 counsel declines a voluntary interview. The department and 17 the officer’s employing agency shall keep the home address 18 and personal contact information of the officer confidential. 19 The law enforcement agency employing an officer involved in 20 a shooting or critical incident shall promptly offer to the 21 officer confidential peer support and confidential counseling 22 at no charge to the officer. 23 The bill provides that the department shall develop and 24 maintain a searchable database providing statistics and 25 demographic information for each officer-involved shooting and 26 each officer-involved critical incident reported each calendar 27 year and shall update the database at least quarterly, and the 28 commissioner of the department shall post the database on the 29 department’s internet site. The department shall not report 30 personally identifying information of an officer involved in a 31 shooting or critical incident or of any other person involved. 32 The Iowa law enforcement academy shall develop and promulgate 33 minimum educational standards for any peace officer performing 34 officer-involved shooting or officer-involved critical incident 35 -5- LSB 2342SV (2) 88 as/rh 5/ 6
S.F. 568 investigations. An employing law enforcement agency shall 1 provide periodic training to a peace officer performing 2 officer-involved shootings or officer-involved critical 3 incident investigations and any supervisor who may respond to a 4 report of an officer-involved shooting or an officer-involved 5 critical incident. 6 -6- LSB 2342SV (2) 88 as/rh 6/ 6
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