Colorado Gov signs sweeping police reform bill ending qualified immunity, banning chokeholds [View all]

[RandySF]

Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a sweeping police reform bill into law on Friday that includes the end of qualified immunity for officers.

The bill ends the legal doctrine that protects police officers from civil lawsuits, and which some have argued gives cover for cops who use excessive force. The issue has gained national attention in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer held him in a chokehold for nearly nine minutes.

“By facing the cold hard truth about the unequal treatment of Black Americans and communities of color, we can and we will create real change that will materially improve the lives of countless Americans of this generation and future generations,” Polis said before signing the bill. “And we can bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice.”

The sweeping Colorado bill also requires all state and local police wear body cameras by 2023, with footage being made public, a ban on chokeholds, a ban on shooting fleeing suspects and a ban on deadly force unless a life is in immediate danger. It also requires officers to report every time they stop someone they suspect of a crime and record that person's ethnicity, race and gender.





https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/503681-colorado-gov-signs-sweeping-police-reform-bill-ending-qualified-immunity