NEW ORLEANS — A proposed law is making its way through the state house and aims to give police a buffer between them and bystanders.
House Bill 85, authored by State Representative Mike Johnson, would make it illegal to approach an officer who is lawfully engaged in law enforcement duties. Johnson says the bill was introduced as means to make everyone safe.
“It’s to protect the policeman,” he said. “To protect the person the policeman is investigating or talking with. And to protect anyone who would come up on an investigation site.”
The officer would have to first ask the person to back away from the scene at least 25 feet, which is about the length of a car and a half.
Anyone who does not comply could be charged with a misdemeanor.
“When you bring in a third person who is not involved in the investigation who gets right close to the officer or the investigation, it creates a danger for the policeman,” said Johnson. “Depending on his level of anxiety, it creates a danger for everyone concerned.”
Both the Police Association of New Orleans and the local Fraternal Order of Police support the passage of the bill.
In a statement, General Council for the Louisiana Fraternal Order of Police Donovan Livaccari wrote, “ We want interactions with the police to be as safe as possible, we want to be able to honor people's first amendment rights to record interactions with the police, and we want people to be able to see the public service that is being provided on their behalf, but we do not need people getting themselves hurt or inadvertently getting the police hurt or the other participants hurt in the course of a police action.”
Those that oppose the bill say the law could infringe on a citizen's right to observe or record police activity or misconduct. Representative Johnson disagrees.
“I can film the whiskers on a kitty cat from twenty-five feet away,” he said. “So, it really would not have any effect.”
Stephanie Willis with the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana says the bill is concerning when it comes to documenting police misconduct.
“We know that there are so many instances in the past or the present where this is happening, and we don’t have any evidence of it. The safety issue I get it, I understand, and we always want to keep our law enforcement safe, but we also want to keep our community safe as well,” she said.
Willis says whether the bill gets passed or not. It’s important for citizens to know their rights and to remain calm when they encounter a situation they believe is police misconduct.
“Stay safe, make sure that you follow the police officer’s orders if they ask you to step back but then also be able to observe or record what you see as well,” she said.
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