For out upcoming look at interest groups in 2306. Can this movement actually have an impact on public policy in Texas?
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Though the next Texas legislative session is more than a year away, movement activists want to get in on the conversation early as lawmakers begin interim studies of criminal justice issues. In October, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick charged Senate committees with studying police and jail safety before the 2017 legislative session. Last week, Texas House Speaker Joe Strausannounced similar directions to his chamber.
The studies, in part, reflect reactions to the July hanging death of Sandra Bland in the Waller County Jail after her arrest during a traffic stop. Questions surrounding Bland's death — and other widely reported cases of police mistreatment of blacks — have opened a door for change through which Texas Black Lives Matter activists hope to pass.
Nationwide, Black Lives Matter wants Congress to pass legislation establishing a use-of-force standard, creating a national database of killings and serious injuries by police, ending police militarization and enacting the End Racial Profiling Act of 2015.
On the state and local levels, the organization wants all police interactions recorded, police forces to look like the communities they serve and mental health professionals to be first responders in crisis situations. They also want spitting, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and other "harmless offenses" decriminalized.
The Austin chapter, Haule said, is pushing five policy demands that it hopes to secure statewide.
- Mandatory investigation of police officers accused of misconduct that are seen through to completion even if the officer quits, is fired or transfers to another department or agency.Independent bodies with subpoena power to conduct the investigations and issue recommendations to local district attorneys.
- Compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, a federal law that created standards for safety in state prisons. Texas did not comply with the law under former Gov. Rick Perry, but Gov. Greg Abbott told the U.S. Attorney General earlier this year that the state will start complying.
- Programs and policies that treat drug addiction as a public health issue instead of simply criminalizing behavior.
- Ending the use of solitary confinement in prison as punishment.
- Demands for police accountability beat at the heart of the Black Lives Matter agenda — and spark some of the sharpest criticism of the group.
All jurisdictions need independent citizen review boards with power to investigate complaints against law enforcement free from conflicts of interest, Haule said.
