Pa. could shield identity of cops in shootings
Police officers are public employees paid with public money, but when they pull the trigger in the line of duty, Pennsylvania lawmakers say their privacy should be paramount, at least until an investigation is completed.
The state House on Tuesday passed a controversial bill that would shield — at least temporarily, but maybe indefinitely — the identities of officers who discharge their guns or use force during the course of their official duty.
House Bill 1538 would prevent local officials from identifying those officers unless a subsequent investigation led to criminal charges. If no charges were filed, then local officials could release an officer’s identity only if it would not create a risk of harm to the officers, their family or their property.
State Rep. Martina White, R-Philadelphia, sponsored the bill and said she wants to protect police who “have a target on their back.”
“Unfortunately, criminals threaten the well-being of our officers every day,” she said. “Our own public officials shouldn’t be the ones handing over officers’ information that can lead criminals straight to them and to their families, where they can take vengeful action.”
The Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge and its local counterpart in Philadelphia support the bill. So does the State Troopers Association.
House members applauded after sending the bill to the Senate in a 162-38 vote. Still, critics dug into it during more than an hour of debate.
“The power of life and death should come with a high level of public oversight and scrutiny,” said state Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia.
Beyond questions of reducing government transparency, opponents of the legislation said the bill is too vague and raises questions about which law enforcement officers are covered, how long investigations might last and what constitutes harm to an officer.
State Rep. Brian Sims, D-Philadelphia, said the lawmakers “know nothing about this legislation.”
“And so I urge my colleagues, please do not confuse your righteous support for the FOP with support for a feckless piece of legislation,” he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, which last week released a new smartphone app that allows the public to automatically record and upload police officers’ interactions with the public, has said the bill implies that law enforcement has something to hide.
Withholding information from the public will harm the relationship between police and the community they serve, ACLU lobbyist Andy Hoover said in a statement.
“Local officials are best equipped to determine whether or not to release an officer’s name in this type of situation,” he said. “They can assess the circumstances in their communities and reach a conclusion. This is not the type of decision that should be made in the state Capitol.”
Philadelphia releases the names of officers involved in police-related shootings within three days, unless a threat is made against them or their family.
White’s legislation would scrap that and, critics say, breed distrust between police and the communities they serve.
The legislation cleared the House as the country continues to wade through a heated debate over police officers’ use of force, especially in cases involving the shooting of unarmed black men.
A White House task force convened in the wake of such high-profile shootings and co-chaired by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey recommended that law enforcement “establish a culture of transparency and accounting to build public trust and legitimacy.” At the same time, supporters of police contend the increased public scrutiny has also led to police increasingly becoming the targets of violence themselves.
“Today, police officers, they’re attacked all over the country,” said state Rep. Barry Jozwiak, a Republican from Berks County and a retired sheriff.
Though policing is an inherently dangerous job, statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation discount the popular notion that a war on police is raging. Those numbers actually show that, statistically speaking, policing has gotten safer and less lethal even though more officers are on the street now than there were in the 1970s, the peak of violence against police.
At the end of 2014, the 10-year average of officers feloniously killed each year had fallen to 50.5, compared to about 115 at the end of 1980. As of September, the country was on pace to see the second-lowest number of police killed in a year since 1962.
Yet, in Pennsylvania, lawmakers still remember the state trooper killed in an ambush last year and say police often find themselves on the receiving end of threats.
Painting her bill as way to build a bridge between police and the community, White said she wants to avoid the “mob mentality” that can take hold after an officer uses force. An investigation would allow facts to materialize and help avoid a rush to judgment that could turn violent, she said.
“This is not about protecting our police officers from bad publicity,” White said. “It’s about protecting their lives and their family.”