WTF?

DeSantis Quashes Civilians’ Power to Investigate Police Misconduct

A new bill lets police chiefs choose who gets to sit on their oversight boards and greatly reduces what they’re able to review.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis approved controversial pro-law enforcement legislation on Friday that effectively guts citizens’ ability to investigate police misconduct. The bill lets police chiefs and sheriffs choose who sits on their civilian oversight boards and reduces boards’ review powers by barring them from seeing use-of-force complaints and internal affairs investigations. At a news conference in St. Augustine, DeSantis celebrated replacing boards “stacked with activists” and claimed police chief-appointed picks would create fair and unbiased oversight, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. “You have review boards, that’s fine, but it’s got to be done in ways where you have the sheriff or chief of police appointing people,” DeSantis said. “It can’t be people that have an agenda.” A Florida ACLU spokesperson objected, saying the bill would only divide the public and police. “HB 601 invalidates the work local communities have put into attempting to increase trust between residents and law enforcement,” policy strategist NR Hines told the Sun Sentinel, adding that it’s better to empower communities to hold police accountable.