Bill > H2647

This bill aims to improve police training by requiring the municipal police training committee to establish comprehensive civil rights training for both recruit and in-service law enforcement officers. Specifically, the bill mandates that recruit basic training include at least eight hours of in-person civil rights instruction, and in-service training include at least four hours of annual in-person training, to be presented by the Committee for Public Counsel Services or its designees. The training will focus on teaching law enforcement officers how to legally stop and identify individuals, conduct searches and seizures, perform electronic searches, and understand qualified immunity under federal civil rights laws. All law enforcement officers will be required to annually attend and successfully complete this civil rights course. The bill also tasks the committee with establishing standards, guidelines, and developing annual training programs for law enforcement, with the instruction to be conducted in-person by appointed counsel. This legislation seeks to enhance law enforcement understanding of civil rights and improve interactions between police and the communities they serve.

Justice

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H2647