State Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, released two bills Wednesday that update a Wisconsin law regarding officer-involved deaths.
Wisconsin Act 348, passed in 2013, states that an officer-involved death “means a death of an individual that results directly from an action or an omission of a law enforcement officer” and must be investigated by the state Department of Justice.
The two bills will update Act 348 by creating a more “transparent process in all aspects of officer involved deaths,” Taylor said in a press release.
“This common-sense clarification that investigators need to be removed in time from investigating their former co-workers will enhance accountability and the public’s trust in the process,” Taylor said in the release.
The first bill requires the outside investigators who examine officer-involved deaths to not have “immediate past employment history with the law enforcement agency employing the officer being investigated,” according to the statement.
The second bill requires a special prosecutor be selected for the case. The prosecutor will be selected by the chief judge of the district.
A public hearing has not yet been scheduled on the two bills.
