MONTGOMERY – Legislation adding a new kind of legal immunity for police in Alabama will help with recruiting, according to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) secretary Hal Taylor.
House Bill 202 (HB202) by State Rep. Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville) would repeal the current laws on police immunity and establish that a law enforcement officer shall be immune from any claim that seeks to impose civil liability on the officer for conduct performed within the officer's discretionary authority.
The bill creates heightened requirements for a plaintiff to prove that an officer acted outside their authority and new legal proceedings and hearings for the plaintiff to bring a complaint. It also creates additional immunity hearings for officers who are accused of misconduct. The bill's provisions cover both civil and criminal immunity for police.
The bill passed 75-26 in the House last week.
Taylor told attendees at a Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce meeting on Wednesday, "This really helps with recruiting."
"There's some wording in here, some language that needed to be in there. Now, if you're a bad actor and if you had a bad use of force case, this is not a bill to hide behind. You can't hide behind it. You're still wrong. If you're wrong, you're wrong. Some people thought this was going to give poor law enforcement ways around things, but it's not for the bad actors at all. It's really a good bill," Taylor said.
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