Congressman Fred Upton is now part of a House caucus task force working on police reform legislation. He tells WSJM News a previous House bill designed to reduce incidents of police violence didn’t make the grade, and so the Problem Solvers Caucus is now working on something new.
“We’re trying to put together a bipartisan proposal that really addresses the situation, certainly one that the president can support and can garner the support of a majority of Republicans as well as Democrats in both the House and the Senate,” Upton said.
Upton says one priority is to ensure the bill does not prevent recruitment or retention of good police officers.
“For me, my biggest concern and complaint about the House-passed bill was the changes in qualified immunity, which would normally protect an officer’s family, and others, from lawsuits.”
Other things he expects in the bill are more money for training, more money for body cams, more restrictions on chokeholds, and a registry of cops with bad records. He’s hoping to see a bill come together by the end of the month.
