Okla. House Debates Police Officer Punishment, Who Should Sit On The Citizen Advisory Board

A bill dealing with who decides on punishment for police officers was highly debated on the House floor. This bill would require at least ⅔ of the group that investigates law enforcement misconduct to be made up of officers from the same agency as whoever is being investigated.

“This bill does nothing but allow the community to work in tandem with our police officers,” explained author of House Bill 2161 Rep. Ross Ford, (R) Broken Arrow.

The bill changes who sits on a citizen advisory board. The author and many republicans explained, the bill is meant to have people who understand the profession sitting on the board and making decisions when it comes to law enforcement punishment.

“This is creating a simple cause of action so that somebody can maybe enforce this or prosecute the matter a lot quicker,” said Rep. Collin Duel, (R) Guthrie.

Republicans say it’s aimed at helping the process of investigating police misconduct, but democrats called it stacking the deck.

“I’m not saying that no police officers should be on this board, but for 2/3 of this board to be filled with police officers absolutely makes no sense,” said Rep. Jason Lowe, (D) Oklahoma City.

“What this does is far too reaching, it's unfair, it's wrong, it's egregious, it's desperate, and guess what- worst of all, it's probably going to work; and in the end, good people will be harmed, justice will not be served,” said Rep. Regina Goodwin, (D) Tulsa.

Using her full allotted 10 minutes in a debate on the house floor, Rep. Goodwin expressed her concerns with this bill.

“An attempt once again by this body, to have police officers, bad officers that are accused of misconduct, to have their brothers in blue weigh in on their misconduct,” said Rep. Goodwin.

Rep. Justin Humphrey, (R) Lane, has an extensive law enforcement background. He used his debate time to discuss things he has seen in his career that would be difficult for most citizens to understand.

“When my life and my occupation and my family are on the line, I want somebody who knows what they're doing, who knows what the situation is like and who's been there,” said Rep. Humphrey.

“I don't think that's a bad perspective to have- which is why every law enforcement agency in the country has an internal affairs division, which we learned in the question section is 100 percent made up by law enforcement," said Rep. Monroe Nichols, (D) Tulsa.

The Tulsa representative said he comes from a large law enforcement family, and still disagrees with this bill. He explains that internal affairs, made up of all law enforcement, is ultimately the one to make the decision on the punishment.

He reminded members that the advisory board simply recommends a punishment to internal affairs, saying this bill undermines trust in community members.

“Let's continue to allow local communities to decide how to make their communities safe and enhance trust in their communities,” said Rep. Nichols.

Representative Forrest Bennett, (D) OKC, said he is in agreement that there needs to be reform to mend the relationship between citizens and law enforcement, although he says this bill does not meet that goal.

“I want good reform in the future, and today, I would really like common sense and cool heads to prevail, and this legislation, I think, really undercuts that,” said Rep. Bennett. “Keeping a citizen advisory board citizen is actually the way to decrease the tension.”

The bill author ended his debate on the floor by reminding members his intent in writing the bill, and the purpose he hoped it would serve.

“The purpose of this bill is to make sure we do have safe communities, all of us want safe communities,” said Rep. Ford.