Attorney – Texas Senate Passes a Bill Meant to Improve Race Relations with Police – Part 2
A controversial bill sponsored by Democrat Senator John Whitmire of Houston passed the Senate in late March 2017. It heads to the House, but many don’t agree the proposed legislation is a good idea.
The bill proposed would require all ninth graders in Texas to be instructed on interaction with police during stops for alleged traffic violations or when detained for other reasons. The goal of the proposed legislation is to reduce the number of confrontations between police officers and citizens. The bill was proposed shortly after highly publicized shootings of black men, including the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014, and Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, which occurred in February 2012.
Topics to be covered in these classes, if the bill becomes law, include the roles and responsibilities of police officers, the duties and rights of people who are interacting with law enforcement officials, how detention and police questioning are supposed to work, and more. The reason for having the class in ninth grade is because students are generally 15 years old and on the verge of driving.
Whitmore said he would like to get people who are good mentors involved with students, such as community activists and people who can talk about their experiences with the police. He also hopes that police will visit the classrooms and interact with the students in that setting, hopefully before an encounter on the streets.
Learn more about this story on actions proposed to improve race relations between police officers and African Americans in Part 1 of this two-part series.
–Guest Contributor
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