Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

In light of the recent events and the mounting pressure to increase oversight of police forces, I will be reintroducing a form of my Senate Bill 1262 of the 2017-18 session which creates a Civilian Police Review Board.  The biggest change between my previous SB 1262 and the new bill will be that this legislation will create a review board for each county and no longer just apply to Allegheny County.   

 

It has been widely argued that citizen participation in governmental policy making produces many benefits including better trust in governmental operations.  Just like the role a jury plays in a trial, an independent review board will allow the people to decide when unjustifiable actions have been made by the police rather than an internal investigation.  This process will ensure greater transparency by granting an outsider and unbiased group of individuals to determine if any criminal proceedings need to take place.     

 

I hope you will consider joining me by co-sponsoring this very important measure.