(C) Arizona Mirror
This story was originally published by Arizona Mirror and is unaltered.
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Democrats want a ‘Family Bill of Rights’ for survivors of police violence [1]
['Jerod Macdonald-Evoy', 'More From Author', '- January']
Date: 2024-01
Katie Baeza held a photo of her brother as she shared how investigations into police use of force often re-traumatize and hurt those left behind by the violence.
“We were interrogated and left in the dark,” Baeza said of the investigation into the police killing of her brother, Ryan Whitaker, who was shot in the back multiple times by a Phoenix police officer who was terminated and then later reinstated. She recalled the family fighting in order to get his body so they could have a funeral.
“Justice has to come in the form of change and change is deeply needed,” Baeza said at a Jan. 11 press conference in the shadow of the state Capitol.
And Democratic lawmakers are proposing that change in the form of a “Family Bill of Rights” that would create more transparency from law enforcement and cities on investigations into use of force as well as giving families certain rights.
Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, previously told the Arizona Mirror that she would be looking into legislation aimed at bringing further transparency to law enforcement organizations after they kill those who they come in contact with during a press conference with family members of victims of police violence.
Her bill, Senate Bill 1074, and its companion bill in the House, aims to give those families additional rights under the law to review body worn camera footage, have access to legal counsel and much more.
“My brother’s death will not be in vain,” Hernandez said, surrounded by families whose loved ones had been killed by police. Hernandez’s brother was shot and killed by Phoenix police in 2019 and his death was a driving force behind her running for the state legislature.
The bill would make major changes to how police interact with families during and after a “critical incident,” which the bill described as an interaction between police and a civilian “that results in physical injury to or the death of the civilian.”
The bill outlines a number of rights that families would be entitled to, such as free access to legal and community support, updates on investigations in the family’s preferred language, being able to petition the county attorney to reopen an investigation into an incident, the return of personal belongings and being allowed to review footage of the incident prior to release.
One of the other key parts of the bill would create additional transparency for family members on public records related to their family member’s death. Last year, family members gathered to denounce the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for either not releasing or only releasing heavily redacted versions of final investigative reports and body worn camera footage.
The bill, if passed, would give family members access to unredacted copies of these reports and would let family members see them prior to being released to the general public. Family members have spoken previously about learning the outcome of investigations by media reports.
In a similar vein, police would be required to notify family members of death or major injury before publicly releasing any names. Hernandez herself only became aware of her brother’s death due to media reports on it back in 2019.
“We know this is not the entire solution,” Hernandez said, adding that it would lead to further transparency and that it is the “bare minimum” that lawmakers can do to address the issue.
Currently, the Phoenix Police Department is under a review by the U.S. Department of Justice for misconduct, and city leaders are already pushing back on DOJ and their unreleased findings, stating that they do not want to be under federal oversight.
Many of the family members present Thursday were family members of police violence victims that sparked outrage in 2020 and led to numerous protests across the state at a time when police nationwide were dealing with several other high profile police killings.
Mussallina Muhaymin, the sister of Muhammad Muhaymin Jr., who was shot by police outside the Maryvale Community Center in 2017, said that reviewing the body camera footage from that day over and over in her head spurred her to want to create change.
“In what situation does the murderer question the family?” Muhaymin said, adding that the long wait time while police investigate if use of force is correct in a situation often creates a new trauma for families wanting answers.
Those gathered, including Hernandez, said they anticipate “heavy opposition” to the measure from Republicans, but said they are resolved to fight for the bill in the years to come if it doesn’t advance in the current session. Hernandez also said she doesn’t intend to compromise to get the bill passed and that she hopes her colleagues on the other side of the aisle will get behind her.
“We’ve all compromised on the lives of our loved ones,” Hernandez said. “We’ve compromised the most already.”
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[1] Url:
https://www.azmirror.com/blog/democrats-want-a-family-bill-of-rights-for-survivors-of-police-violence/
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