SB80INTRODUCED
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SB80
EIXN922-1
By Senators Smitherman, Singleton
RFD: Veterans and Military Affairs
First Read: 07-Feb-24
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5 EIXN922-1 02/06/2024 MAP (L)ma 2024-453
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First Read: 07-Feb-24
SYNOPSIS:
This bill would require law enforcement officers
in this state to complete a program of sensitivity
training. This bill would also require law enforcement
agencies to engage in efforts to recruit social workers
licensed at the clinical level of practice to be law
enforcement officers. This bill would require law
enforcement officers who carry firearms to also carry a
non-lethal weapon.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to law enforcement; to require law enforcement
officers in this state to complete a program of sensitivity
training; to require law enforcement agencies to engage in
efforts to recruit social workers licensed at the clinical
level of practice to be law enforcement officers; and to
require law enforcement officers who carry firearms to also
carry a non-lethal weapon.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. (a) The Alabama Peace Officers' Standards
and Training Commission shall require a program of sensitivity
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and Training Commission shall require a program of sensitivity
training to be included in any law enforcement officer academy
course of study. The sensitivity training program shall be
developed in collaboration with the Alabama Chapter of the
National Association of Social Workers or a similar
organization.
(b) Certified law enforcement officers in this state
shall be required to complete and report earned hours of
continuing education courses in sensitivity training to the
commission.
(c) Commencing January 1, 2025, all law enforcement
officers certified by the commission shall be required to
complete a program of sensitivity training described in
subsection (a). The training shall do all of the following:
(1) Include focus on social, ethnic, and racial bias,
cultural competency and diversity, and law enforcement
interaction with minorities, the disabled, the mentally ill,
unlawfully present aliens, and other populations.
(2) Provide instruction on situational assessment,
decision-making, and alternative de-escalation tactics that
will better equip law enforcement officer to handle difficult
socially volatile situations.
(d) The commission shall establish rules and policies
to ensure compliance with this section.
(e) The commission shall submit a report regarding
compliance to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and
the President Pro Tempore of the Senate on or before the first
day of each regular session of the Legislature.
Section 2. Commencing on January 1, 2025, state and
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Section 2. Commencing on January 1, 2025, state and
local law enforcement agencies shall engage in efforts to
recruit social workers licensed at the clinical level of
practice into the law enforcement officer workforce. The
social workers shall complete all necessary standards and
training to become sworn officers of the law. Licensed social
workers that become law enforcement officers shall assist law
enforcement agencies and first responding agencies in all of
the following areas to aid in the mitigation of high intensity
situations:
(1) Human behavior in social environments.
(2) Crisis intervention.
(3) Diversity.
(4) Ethics.
(5) Diagnostic impression, assessment, and opinion
expertise.
Section 3. A uniformed law enforcement officer who
carries a firearm also shall carry a non-lethal weapon and
shall be trained in the appropriate use of that non-lethal
weapon.
Section 4. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2024.
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