87R8488 JCG-D

By: Menéndez S.B. No. 842

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to training on community-based policing for certain persons licensed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

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

SECTION 1. Section 1701.253(c), Occupations Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) As part of the minimum curriculum requirements, the commission shall establish a statewide comprehensive education and training program on civil rights, racial sensitivity, [and] cultural diversity, and community-based policing for officers [persons] licensed under this chapter. The program must contain a component in which officers and members of the community the officers serve meet and share their perspectives on issues covered by the training.

SECTION 2. Sections 1701.352(b) and (e), Occupations Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) The commission shall require a state, county, special district, or municipal agency that appoints or employs peace officers to provide each peace officer with a training program at least once every 48 months that is approved by the commission and consists of:

(1) topics selected by the agency; and

(2) for an officer holding only a basic proficiency certificate, not more than 20 hours of education and training that contain curricula incorporating the learning objectives developed by the commission regarding:

(A) civil rights, racial sensitivity, [and] cultural diversity, and community-based policing;

(B) de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques to facilitate interaction with persons with mental impairments;

(C) de-escalation techniques to facilitate interaction with members of the public, including techniques for limiting the use of force resulting in bodily injury; and

(D) unless determined by the agency head to be inconsistent with the officer's assigned duties:

(i) the recognition, documentation, and investigation of cases that involve child abuse or neglect, family violence, and sexual assault, including the use of best practices and trauma-informed techniques to effectively recognize, document, and investigate those cases; and

(ii) issues concerning sex offender characteristics.

(e) The commission may require a state, county, special district, or municipal agency that appoints or employs a reserve law enforcement officer, county jailer, or public security officer to provide each of those persons with the education and training program on [in] civil rights, racial sensitivity, [and] cultural diversity, and community-based policing established by the commission under Section 1701.253(c) at least once every 48 months.

SECTION 3. Section 1701.402(i), Occupations Code, is amended to read as follows:

(i) As a requirement for an intermediate proficiency certificate, an officer must complete an education and training program on civil rights, racial sensitivity, [and] cultural diversity, and community-based policing established by the commission under Section 1701.253(c).

SECTION 4. Not later than March 1, 2022, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement shall revise the commission's education and training programs as necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act.

SECTION 5. Section 1701.253(c), Occupations Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a person who submits an application for a peace officer license under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, on or after September 1, 2022. A person who submits an application for a peace officer license under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, before September 1, 2022, is governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 6. Notwithstanding Sections 1701.352(b) and (e), Occupations Code, as amended by this Act, a license holder who before March 1, 2022, completes an education and training program on civil rights, racial sensitivity, and cultural diversity as part of the 48-month training cycle beginning on September 1, 2021, is not required to complete the revised education and training program on civil rights, racial sensitivity, cultural diversity, and community-based policing required by Sections 1701.352(b) and (e), Occupations Code, as amended by this Act, until the license holder's next 48-month training cycle.

SECTION 7. Notwithstanding Section 1701.402(i), Occupations Code, as amended by this Act, an officer who before March 1, 2022, completes an education and training program on civil rights, racial sensitivity, and cultural diversity is considered to have completed an education and training program on civil rights, racial sensitivity, cultural diversity, and community-based policing for purposes of that section.

SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.