Texas lawmakers are working to pass a bill that would exempt police officers from deadly conduct charges when acting in the line of duty.
House Bill 2436 was up for vote in the lower chamber on April 28 after the Senate approved a similar bill earlier in the month, the Texas Tribune reports. The bill aims to protect law enforcement from being prosecuted under a charge originally intended to fight gang violence statewide.
Critics say the bill allows police to use excessive force while on duty. It’s one of several pieces of legislation this session designed to protect police officers that has Republican lawmakers clashing with left-leaning prosecutors. The bill comes in response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s push for local politicians to sign “Back the Blue” pledges and maintain local police budgets.
“It wasn’t intended for that at all,” said Rep. Cole Hefner, the Mount Pleasant Republican who authored the bill. “We want to protect [police officers] in doing the official duties of their job from these prosecutors that may be a little bit politically motivated sometimes.”
However, critics are calling out HB 2436, arguing that the exemption would protect police officers from accountability when recklessly firing their weapons.
“Allowing police to shoot at people without justification will make our community and our law enforcement officers less safe,” said Travis County District Attorney José Garza.
“Bad actors and mistakes do happen in every profession and our police officers, our police force, is not an exception to that,” said Yasmine Smith, a vice president of justice and advocacy for the nonprofit Austin Area Urban League. “We must hold those bad actors accountable.”
Earlier this month, the GOP-led House passed Senate Bill 1637, which would exempt officers from deadly conduct charges if they can show they were acting in the line of duty. The bill also allows law enforcement agencies to permanently seal an officer’s conduct records if no disciplinary action is taken.
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