Law-enforcement officer training and qualifications; DCJS to develop curriculum & lesson plans. (HB5066)

Introduced By

Del. Cia Price (D-Newport News) with support from co-patrons Del. Kaye Kory (D-Falls Church), and Del. Kathleen Murphy (D-McLean)

Description

Department of Criminal Justice Services; law-enforcement officer training and qualifications. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services (the Department) to develop uniform curriculum and lesson plans for the compulsory minimum entry-level, in-service, and advanced training standards to be employed by criminal justice training academies approved by the Department when conducting training. The bill also requires the Department to include the recognition of implicit biases in interacting with persons who have a mental illness, substance use disorder, or developmental disability in its (i) training standards and model policies; (ii) compulsory training standards for basic training and recertification of law-enforcement officers; and (iii) operating procedures, guidelines, and standards for community policing in order to ensure sensitivity to and awareness of systemic and individual racism, cultural diversity, and the potential for biased policing. In addition, the bill adds to the minimum qualifications to become a law-enforcement officer or a jail officer that such person undergo a psychological examination, subsequent to a conditional offer of employment, conducted under the supervision of a licensed psychologist or other licensed mental health professional. The bill requires the Department to establish requirements for compulsory mental health examinations for law-enforcement officers, jail officers, and correctional officers that include guidelines on the implementation of such mental health examinations. Finally, the bill requires any criminal justice training academy approved by the Department to employ such uniform curriculum and lesson plans and requires the Department to conduct annual evaluations of each criminal justice training academy's compliance with uniform curriculum and lesson plans. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022. Read the Bill »

Outcome

History