Press Releases
Approach to Police Reform Could Have Unintended Consequences
Washington,
June 25, 2020
Congressman Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) issued the following statement in regarding his vote against H.R. 7120:
“Our communities have struggled at times to achieve fairness and justice when enforcing our laws. The legislation considered by the House tonight was brought forward in response to the tragic and senseless killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. It’s clear the City of Minneapolis failed Mr. Floyd and those responsible are being must be held accountable and facing criminal charges. “H.R. 7120 could have big consequences for public safety. Provisions included in the bill are designed to strip law enforcement officers of the same basic protections that most other government employees enjoy – qualified immunity. Qualified immunity protects government employees from personal liability lawsuits when they make reasonable mistakes on the job. However, qualified immunity does not provide immunity or protection from state or federal criminal charges being filed for an illegal act. “Forcing every community to remove qualified immunity protections from law enforcement officers, who are government employees and operate at the direction of elected officials, could be irresponsible, and may lead to a law enforcement crisis as more experienced officers retire and fewer qualified people are willing to put their lives at risk to protect our communities. Police are vital to our communities and Congress needs to do more research on the long-term impacts of such a policy change. “All Americans should feel safe in their own neighborhoods and I have cosponsored a more commonsense approach to protecting the public, respecting individual rights and ending the use of excessive force. If any state or local community wants to eliminate qualified immunity for their law enforcement officers, they can already do this, and they have always had the ability to do so. There could be good reasons as to why so few communities have been willing to take this step. Hopefully these objectionable provisions can be removed, and we can move toward a more bipartisan solution.” |
