"C" is for Criminal Justice Reform

(Jess) If you read my campaign interviews or met me on the campaign trail you most likely heard mention of my father. From a very early age (probably 5 or 6 years old) he began including me in discussions about all things politics. It wasn’t indoctrinating, but rather done in a way that challenged me to consider all factual information, and that encouraged critical thinking. 

I grew up in, what was, a very small southern town. It was not unknown that there were some power-seeking police officers patrolling the streets, so when it came time for me to start hanging out with friends independently he gave me a “pocket constitution” and made sure I understood my rights. While he instilled in us (my brother and me) a deep respect for law enforcement and the part they play in our “civilized society”, he was also sure that we knew our constitutional rights and how to demand respect for them from “authorities”.  

I once had the occasion to use this knowledge, which was pretty shocking to the officer who pulled my friend and I over because “there were bumper stickers on the back window”, and who insisted he search the vehicle based on this “probable cause”. He wasn’t keen on being educated by a 16-year old girl who quickly told her friend not to comply and to demand he obtain a warrant should he wish to search the vehicle. Not because we had done anything wrong or had anything to hide, but because the cop was an overzealous powerdrunk asshat who just wanted to bully some kids, and I didn’t intend to aid him with any ease. 

That was where it all started for me, and why today every time there is a news story about someone being killed by use of excessive force at the hands of police officers I get angry. 

Education and Training Reform

There is something very unsettling in the lack of substantive requirement for education and training for Law Enforcement Officers (hereinafter “LEOs”). The Greenville, SC website outlines clearly the requirements for becoming a police officer in South Carolina. “Once employed as a Police Officer in Training, you will attend the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in Columbia for 12 weeks. Certified Officers from other states and Military Police may qualify for a 6-week legal portion or a challenge test. The Field Training Program (FTO) is 600 hours. This may be shortened to compensate for prior experience. The probationary period is typically 1 year.”

In contrast, attorneys complete at least 4 years of college to earn a bachelor’s/undergraduate degree, then roughly three years of law school, and oftentimes clerkship. Upon completion they must take an exhaustive Bar Examination in order to earn a license to act in defense of the rights of individuals under the laws. These are the same laws that our LEOs are authorized to use force to uphold should they feel force is necessary, and in some cases such force being lethal. Attorneys go through 7 years of education to understand and argue the laws that LEOs are allowed to enforce, with a badge and a gun, after 12 weeks of academy and 600 hours of field training. 

“One study found that of the 833 hours the average police officer receives in training, 73 of those hours cover firearms skills but only 18 (just 2%) are spent on conflict deescalation (link).” 

Mental Health Resources and Deescalation Training

In January, in the Huntington Park area of Los Angeles, a man named Anthony Lowe was shot and killed by police officers. Anthony was a double amputee who was wheelchair bound. In Deleware, 28 year-old Jeremy McDole was shot by police who approached him, guns drawn, demanding he relinquish his own weapon.

• End pretextual stops, overcriminalization, and the war on drugs
• End no-knock warrants
• End Civil Asset Forfeiture
• End Cash Bail
• End Qualified Immunity

Legislation

In May 2022, Governor McMaster signed into law some police reform efforts (story) (bill) (editorial):

• Bans putting an untrained officer on duty alone
• Expands on what qualifies as police misconduct
• Bans chokeholds across the state (outside of circumstances in which the use of deadly force would be allowed)
• Requires standards be written for law enforcement agencies and penalizes agencies that break those standards
• Expands the definition of “police misconduct” to include failing to intervene or report when a fellow officer engaged in abuse of authority
• Requires law enforcement agencies to quickly document and report misconduct

Then, in June 2023, HB 3532, the so-called “catch-and-release” bill that makes it harder for violent offenders to be released on bail and/or bond, became law. It requires judges to take into account the accused’s prior record before setting bail.

Read more on our blog