JEFFERSON CITY, MO. — When a white Ferguson policeman fatally shot a black 18-year-old nearly a year ago, the St. Louis suburb erupted in violent protests and the nation took notice. Since then, legislators in almost every state have proposed changes to the way police interact with the public.
The result: Twenty-four states have passed at least 40 new measures addressing such things as officer-worn cameras, training about racial bias, independent investigations when police use force, and new limits on the flow of surplus military equipment to law enforcement agencies, according to an Associated Press analysis.
Despite all that action, far more proposals have stalled or failed, the AP review found.
And few states have done anything to change laws on when police are justified to use deadly force.
National civil rights leaders praised the steps taken by states but said they aren’t enough to solve the racial tensions and economic disparities that have fueled protests in Ferguson, Baltimore, New York and elsewhere following instances in which people died in police custody or shootings.
“What we have right now in the country is an emerging consensus as to the need to act,” said NAACP president Cornell William Brooks. “What we don’t have is a consensus as to how to act, what to act on and how to do this in some kind of priority order.”
The Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old who scuffled with Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, came a few weeks after Eric Garner — an unarmed black man accused of illegally selling cigarettes — died in a struggle with white New York City officers.
Some Ferguson protesters burned stores and threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at heavily armored police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds — all under the lens of live, national media coverage.
The protests again turned violent when a Missouri grand jury decided not to charge Wilson.
The AP analysis of legislation passed in all 50 states found the greatest interest in officer cameras that can capture what transpires between police and civilians. Sixteen states passed body-camera measures this year. Numerous cities from coast-to-coast, including Ferguson, began using the cameras without waiting for legislative direction.
“Right now, all law enforcement has an image problem,” said California Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, a Democrat from Los Angeles whose budget subcommittee allotted $1 million for a pilot project outfitting some Highway Patrol troopers with cameras. “They’ve got to show that they can police their own.”
Just three states — Colorado, Connecticut and Illinois — have passed comprehensive packages of legislation encouraging body cameras, boosting police training on such things as racial biases and requiring independent investigations when police shoot people. Colorado and Connecticut also are among several states that bolstered citizen rights to take videos of police.
Police groups have been urging lawmakers to proceed with caution when altering laws on how they do their jobs. They stress that officers involved in shootings deserve fair investigations and that surplus military equipment typically is used for defensive purposes.
Any changes should focus on training police commanders to make better decisions on when and how to use their officers and equipment, said Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Ezekiel Edwards, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s criminal law reform project, said states can’t expect to make real progress by merely equipping officers with cameras or providing more training. He said states must also provide better education, employment and housing opportunities.
“There’s been a tremendous amount done over the past year,” Edwards said, “but there is a massive amount of work that is left to do going forward.”
Body cameras
Sixteen states passed measures addressing officer-worn cameras to record interactions with the public. The measures varied greatly. Some states, such as Arizona and Louisiana, created committees to recommend policies. Others, such as Illinois and Oregon, passed laws setting standards for turning cameras on and how long videos must be kept. States such as Colorado, Connecticut, South Carolina and Texas approved grant programs to buy cameras. Florida, North Dakota and Oklahoma were among states limiting public access to videos.
