| We are blessed to have many brave men and women in law enforcement who choose to put their lives on the line each and every day to protect and serve our communities and state. This session, I was proud to vote in favor of several new initiatives to support our Hoosier law enforcement officers.
First, our new state budget allocates $70 million for improvements to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, which is where our officers are trained, $30 million for body cameras for state and local police, $5 million to provide raises to state police, conservation and excise officers, $8 million to establish a High Tech Crimes Unit and $7 million to upgrade safety gear for correctional officers.
We recently saw the benefits of this new funding with the Indiana State Policeannouncing the rollout of body and in-car cameras for their officers across the state.
I also supported House Enrolled Act 1006, which improves the training law enforcement officers receive by requiring pre-basic, in-service and executive training to cover de-escalation of sensitive situations. This will help officers be better prepared to handle tense interactions with citizens.
HEA 1006 also improves transparency and accountability in the hiring process by requiring police departments to contact every other police department an applicant has previously worked for to obtain their past employment and disciplinary files.
HEA 1006 received unanimous, bipartisan support at every step in the legislative process and was supported by the Fraternal Order of Police, the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police, the Indiana State Police, the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus and the NAACP.
To learn about these bills and others passed this session, click here.
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