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.