House Bill 1319

AN ACT TO REQUIRE EACH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO ADOPT A POLICY REGARDING THE INVESTIGATION PROCESS OF ANY DEATH RESULTING FROM THE INVOLVEMENT OF AN OFFICER EMPLOYED BY THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY; TO PROVIDE THAT SUCH POLICY SHALL BE PROVIDED TO AND SIGNED BY ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF THE POLICY; TO PROVIDE THAT THE INVESTIGATION PROCESS SHALL BE CONDUCTED BY INTERNAL AFFAIRS IN A TRANSPARENT MANNER THAT AVOIDS ANY APPEARANCE OF ANY CONFLICT OF INTEREST; TO PRESCRIBE THE MINIMUM CRITERIA TO BE CONTAINED IN THE POLICY; TO PROVIDE THAT THE OCCURRENCE OF CERTAIN ACTS SHALL NECESSITATE AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TO THE SCENE OF INCIDENT AND AN INVESTIGATION CONDUCTED BY INTERNAL AFFAIRS; TO REQUIRE THE INVESTIGATOR CONDUCTING THE INVESTIGATION TO PROVIDE A COMPLETE WRITTEN REPORT TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF THE COUNTY IN WHICH THE OFFICER-INVOLVED DEATH OR INJURY OCCURRED; TO PROVIDE THAT THE INVESTIGATION OF SUCH INCIDENTS SHALL NOT EXCEED SIX MONTHS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. As used in this act, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless context clearly indicates otherwise:

(a) "Law enforcement agency" means any agency or unit of government or any municipality of the state or any political subdivision thereof, or any agent thereof which has constitutional or statutory authority to employ or appoint persons as officers. The term also includes any private entity which has contracted with the state or county for the operation and maintenance of a nonjuvenile detention facility.

(b) "Law enforcement officer" means any person who is elected, appointed or employed full-time or part-time by any unit of government or municipality of the state or any political subdivision thereof:

(i) Who is vested with authority to bear arms and make arrests; and

(ii) Whose primary responsibility is the prevention and detection of crime or the enforcement of the penal, criminal, traffic or highway laws of the state.

The term includes all certified supervisory, correctional officer, correctional probation officer and command personnel whose duties, in whole or in part, include the supervision, training, guidance and management responsibilities of full-time law enforcement officers, part-time law enforcement officers or auxiliary law enforcement officers.

(c) "Auxiliary law enforcement officer" means any person employed or appointed, with or without compensation, who aids or assists a full-time or part-time law enforcement officer and who, while under the direct supervision of a full-time or part-time law enforcement officer, has the authority to arrest and perform law enforcement functions.

(d) "Officer-involved death" means a death of an individual that resulted directly from an act or an omission of a law enforcement officer while the law enforcement officer is on duty and acting within the scope of his or her authority, or while the law enforcement officer is off duty but performing activities that are within the scope of his or her law enforcement duties.

(e) "Officer-involved in Shooting (OIS)" means the discharge of a firearm, whether accidental or intentional, by a law enforcement officer, whether on or off duty. The term includes an officer's discharge of a firearm that results in any physical injury or death of a person, even if it is an accidental discharge.

SECTION 2. (1) Every law enforcement agency shall adopt a publicly written policy which shall be signed and attested to by each law enforcement officer employed by the law enforcement agency as confirmation of receipt regarding the investigation process of any death resulting from an officer's involvement who is employed by the law enforcement agency. The investigation process, to be conducted by Internal Affairs, shall be transparent and avoid any appearance of any conflict of interest.

(2) (a) Each policy adopted under subsection (1) shall require an investigation conducted by at least two (2) investigators of Internal Affairs, one (1) of whom shall be the lead investigator and neither of whom is employed by the law enforcement agency that is under the subject investigation which is the employer of a law enforcement officer involved in the officer-involved death or injury of an individual. The two (2) investigators shall be appointed to the case by the Attorney General, and may be employed by the Office of the Attorney General.

(b) If the officer-involved death or shooting being investigated is traffic-related, the policy adopted under subsection (1) shall require the investigation to use a crash reconstruction unit from a conflict free private or public independent agency, which is not an ancillary entity of the law enforcement agency, and does not employ a law enforcement officer involved in the officer-involved death or injury who is under investigation.

(c) Each policy adopted under subsection (1) may allow an internal investigation into the officer-involved death only if the internal investigation does not interfere with the investigation conducted under paragraph (a) of this subsection (2).

SECTION 3. All officer-involved shootings, hit or nonhit, fatal or nonfatal, all in-custody deaths, and all serious uses of force as defined by the law enforcement agency shall necessitate an immediate response to the scene of incident and an investigation conducted by Internal Affairs, in addition to any review board proceedings or other investigations that occur or are contemplated regardless as to whether a public complaint has been filed. Neither a prosecutor's declination nor any finding that such shootings or use of force were in policy or justified shall cause an internal administrative review to be terminated. An administrative review of a shooting, in-custody death and serious use of force shall urgently consider the strategic, tactical, policy, training and risk management implications of any such incident, including whether the incident could have been avoided or mitigated by changes to policy, procedures or training.

SECTION 4. (1) Internal Affairs shall conduct all serious administrative investigations, including, but not limited to, officer-involved shootings, in-custody deaths, alleged constitutional violations, allegations of racial profiling or discriminatory policing or racial prejudice and cases referred directly by the chief of police or command staff. Likewise, Internal Affairs shall also conduct all administrative investigations of allegations of misconduct that are likely to result in litigation against the department or its members.

(2) Alleged excessive or unreasonable minor uses of force not involving death, serious injury, or hospital care or willful, intentional, reckless, or knowing misconduct may be appropriate for investigation at the agency level. Internal Affairs shall track and monitor ongoing agency-level investigations and intervene in or take over those investigations as necessary to ensure their competence, completeness and integrity. All completed agency-level investigations shall be reviewed by Internal Affairs in addition to the reviewed performed in the regular chain of command of the agency. No unit level investigation shall be closed until Internal Affairs reviews the investigation and certifies that it is full, fair and thorough.

SECTION 5. (1) (a) Compensation for participation in an investigation under Section 2(2)(a) may be determined in a manner consistent with mutual aid agreements or memorandums of understanding.

(b) Compensation for participation in an investigation under Section 2(2)(a) may be paid from funds obtained from asset forfeitures.

(2) (a) The investigator conducting the investigation under Section 2(2)(a) shall, in an expeditious manner, provide a complete written report to both the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi and the district attorney of the county in which the officer-involved death or injury occurred. The investigation shall not exceed six (6) months to investigate, and provide a complete written report of the officer-involved death, unless by motion to a federal court for an extension of time is requested and granted for good cause. Upon a finding of good cause, an extension for investigation may be granted for not more than six (6) additional months.

(b) If the Attorney General determines there is no basis or findings to prosecute the law enforcement officer involved in the officer-involved death or injury, the investigator conducting the investigation under Section 2(2)(a) shall immediately release the report to the public.

SECTION 6. The provisions of this act shall be applicable only to officer-involved deaths occurring from and after July 1, 2018.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.