House panel moves to squash local police review boards

Image via AP.

A new bill that preempts the ability of local jurisdictions to handle complaints against cops to the state has cleared its first committee in the House.

HB 601, sponsored by Jacksonville Republican Reps. Dean Black and Wyman Duggan, would bar a “county, municipality, special district, or other political subdivision of the state” from trying to “pass or enforce any ordinance, resolution, or rule relating to the receipt, processing, or investigation of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement officers and correctional officers.”

This specifically addresses civilian review boards that offer residents an opportunity to evaluate potential misconduct by the police officers whose salaries they pay, eliminating their central functions.

This prohibition includes any “ordinance, resolution, or rule relating to civilian oversight of a law enforcement agency in relation to the investigation of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement officers and correctional officers.”

Current law does not explicitly allow or ban civilian oversight agencies, the bill analysis notes, creating an opportunity for the Legislature to clarify its intent in the section of statute containing the Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights. Duggan said the bill would “enhance” that provision Wednesday.

Democrats diverged from the sponsor’s logic.

Rep. Mike Gottlieb questioned who would deal with “misconduct,” saying the definition was broad.

Duggan said these could be fielded by other entities with current governmental power, such as Internal Affairs at the officer’s agency, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney, the Attorney General, or the State Attorney.

“This bill is just clarifying that the receipt, processing, and investigation is preempted to the state in the sense that not local citizen accountability boards,” Duggan said. “Any existing civilian review boards … would no longer have the ability to handle the receipt, processing and investigation.”

This would not stop a local board from discussing “policies” and “procedure,” though.

Duggan, who recently suggested the state might consider “consolidating counties” and “eliminating cities,” fretted that there were no “uniform standards across these local initiatives” on issues like “qualifications or expertise” of board members, which “allegations of misconduct to investigate,” investigatory techniques or discipline.

“They are conducting a review, in essence, an investigation,” Duggan said of the estimated 21 such boards, without “uniform standards” or “due process” to officers.

Asked about the “compelling state interest” in this legislation, Duggan said it was “making sure the law enforcement officer was protected.”

“We want to be the most law enforcement friendly state,” Duggan added, going on to frame the people on the boards as lacking qualifications and subjecting cops to “scrutiny” and “scorn.”

The Fraternal Order of Police, which is the politically potent union representing Duval County police officers, supports this bill, as does the Police Benevolent Association.

The bill from the two Jacksonville Republicans has an impact in their hometown as well, given a long-standing and thus-far futile push for a civilian review board and a Democratic Mayor seen as more friendly to those arguments than her Republican predecessor was.

The bill advanced from this committee by a 14-3 vote.