By Patrick Marley and Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel. Feb. 19, 2014
"The state Assembly voted Tuesday night to end the long-standing
practice of allowing police agencies to investigate their own officers
when people die in custody.
The bill
passed on a voice vote and goes to the Senate, where its fate is
uncertain. Both houses are controlled by Republicans, but no GOP senator
has signed on to the bill.
"The police custody bill would require a team of at least two investigators
from an outside agency to lead investigations into such deaths. The
bill also would require reports of custody death investigations
statewide to be released to the public if criminal charges are not filed
against the officers involved.
"The bill was prompted by the deaths of Paul Heenan, fatally shot by a Madison police officer outside his home last year; Derek Williams, who died after begging for help and gasping for breath in the back of a Milwaukee police squad car in 2011; and Michael Bell, shot in the head at close range by Kenosha police in his family's driveway in 2004. All three men were unarmed."
"A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation of in-custody deaths
in Milwaukee County over a five-year period found that while those
reviews are labeled as "independent," pathologists, prosecutors and law
enforcement rely on each other's conclusions — even when those
conclusions are flawed — ensuring no one is held accountable when
prisoners die.'
"This bill
doesn't solve all the problems, it doesn't bring people's loved ones
back, but it makes a difference for families," said Rep. Chris Taylor
(D-Madison).
No comments:
Post a Comment