LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE SENDS BIPARTISAN POLICING REFORM LEGISLATION TO GOVERNOR EDWARDS

Bill Will Ensure That Officers Can Spend Their Time On Pursuing Serious Offenders, Are Empowered To Perform Central Peacekeeping Duties

Justice Action Network’s Carl Filler: “Simply put, this is a win for law enforcement, a win for the taxpayers, and a win for public safety.”

(Baton Rouge, LA) - With unanimous votes in the House of Representatives and the Senate, Louisiana House lawmakers concurred unanimously today to send a policing reform bill to Governor John Bel Edwards that would make citations presumptive for low-level offenses unless an individual poses a public safety threat. House Bill 560, sponsored by Representative Julie Emerson (R-39), will save taxpayer money and prioritize law enforcement time and effort on true public safety threats, while preserving their discretion in each case.  

In response to today’s vote, Carl Filler, State Policy Analyst at the Justice Action Network, the country’s largest bipartisan criminal justice reform organization, issued the following statement:

“Louisiana has joined other states, such as Missouri and Pennsylvania, in passing commonsense policing reform that makes Louisiana safer, allowing officers to focus on serious, violent offenses,” said Filler. “House Bill 560 strikes the right balance by preserving law enforcement discretion while ensuring that officers spend their time on pursuing serious offenders, not on paperwork and making custodial arrests for individuals who serve no public safety threat. Studies have shown that custodial arrests take much more of law enforcement’s resources, taking an average of 85.8 minutes to complete, while a citation averages only 24.2 minutes. We congratulate Representative Emerson for her leadership in helping focus law enforcement resources on serious crime, while allowing low risk defendants to continue working and supporting themselves and their families. This legislation will also reduce recidivism, as studies have also shown that people detained pretrial are more likely to reoffend in the future.” 

“Simply put, this is a win for law enforcement, a win for the taxpayers, and a win for public safety,” continued Filler. 

House Bill 560, sponsored by Representative Emerson, will have peace officers issue citations in lieu of a custodial arrest for misdemeanors and felony theft (under $1000). Law enforcement officers may still make a custodial arrest if they have reasonable grounds to believe the person will not appear to court, will cause further injury or property damage, are needed to comply with routine identification procedures, or if they have two or more previous felony convictions.

HB 560 now goes to Governor Edwards’ desk for his signature.