LANSING, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Legislation written before the Memorial Day death of George Floyd that breezed through the state Senate last week is slated to go before the state House shortly.
Senate Bill 0945, sponsored by Ann Arbor Democrat Jeff Irwin, would require police officers statewide, by January of 2022, to take additional training in de-escalation techniques, implicit bias and crisis intervention for those with mental health issues. The measure was passed unanimously by the Upper Chamber less than two hours after it was forwarded to the floor by the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.
Such swift action may or may not be duplicated in the House, as second-term Republican Representative Mary Whiteford of the South Haven area, who has a brother-in-law that is a police chief in an Illinois community, believes that the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards should be the first to determine what training police officers need to be required to take. “If the governing body over police officers is not stepping up and having that as an important part of their training, then yes, the state should do it,” Whiteford said on “WHTC Talk of the Town” during her monthly appearance on Monday. “I’m looking to hear what MCOLES and other police officers associations have to say about that at first before I come to a final decision about what I’ll support and not support.”
Another concern brought up on the bill in the Senate was more financial than ethical, that local communities may not be able to fund the costs of increased training.
