NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Governor Bill Lee discussed a plan Thursday intended to eliminate police brutality.
“Approaches that would result in upheaval or defunding are not the right approach,” Lee said, “Rather, we’ve chosen what we believe is a substantive and serious approach.”
A task force Lee created this summer sent suggested use of force policies to agencies across the state. The task force recommended, among other things, the elimination of choke holds, although most agencies have already.
Officials say 90% of agencies are now on the same page including Memphis police and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
“As sheriff of the largest sheriff’s office in the state of Tennessee I found the recommendations of the task force to be beneficial to my agency as we review our policies and practices,” Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said.
As WREG’s reported, the state is also adding 88 hours of training to academies. A minimum of 16 hours will be focused on teaching officers how to interact with protesters, properly use force and take action if they see other officers breaking the law or violating policy.
“This empowers and requires the officers to react and intervene if there is unnecessary force being utilized and/or someone’s rights being violated,” TN Dept. of Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Hodgen Mainda said.
State Representative Antonio Parkinson of Memphis supports the changes but says they’ll only work if agencies punish officers who break the rules.
“Not only just encouraging the training but also making sure that there is accountability and making sure that this is embedded in the policies of these law enforcement agencies,” Parkinson said.
The state is also expanding information sharing between agencies so that officers who are fired or forced to resign for using excessive force won’t get hired somewhere else.
