Legislative Black Caucus wants bills for independent investigations for officer involved deaths

New Bill Calls For Independent Investigations of Officer Involved Deaths

Thursday, the Legal Committee of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus met to discuss Senate Bill 2798 and House Bill 1310; two newly proposed pieces of legislation that would require independent investigations at the local law enforcement agency level, in cases of officer involved shootings and officer involved deaths.

Mississippi State Senator and Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, Kenneth Wayne Stokes says, “Instead of letting the investigation be led by the local authorities, where everybody knows each other, we’re going to ask that this law allows the attorney general to pick two independent investigators to look at the case.”

Following grand jury decisions not to indict police officers involved in the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York City, a public outcry across the nation erupted across the country from protest demonstrations to calls for federal indictments.

Mississippi State Senator Derrick T. Simmons says the public’s trust needs to be restored in the judicial system, and that’s exactly what these bills aim to do.

WJTV
1/29/15