Law Adds Mandates Regarding Officer-Involved Shootings

August 31, 2018

On August 19, 2018, the Governor signed into law Senate Bill 2378 which amends the Police and Community Relations Improvement Act to require every law enforcement agency to adopt a written policy for the internal review of officer-involved shootings. The amendment also requires that any officer involved in such a shooting incident must immediately report it to the appropriate supervising officer. Furthermore, each law enforcement agency is required to conduct a “thorough review of the circumstances of the officer-involved shooting.”

The written policy mandated by this amendment shall be available for copying and inspection under the Freedom of Information Act and is specifically excluded from any exemptions under that Act.

Municipal police departments should prepare to have such written policy ready when this amendment goes into effect on January 1, 2019.