LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — Law enforcement agents did not see eye to eye Wednesday with promoters of public information over the question: Should Nebraska make public a list exposing police officer misconduct?
State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha has introduced Legislative Bill 882, which he said was intended to ensure transparency and police accountability — not to “shame” sworn officers.
Currently, several who testified Wednesday said, that law enforcement agencies already keep track of police officers accused of misconduct, and prosecutors are supposed to turn over a name to defense attorneys when relevant in a legal case.
McKinney’s bill would post such a list on websites accessible to the average person.
Among supporters who spoke before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee were Spike Eickholt of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska and Korby Gilbertson, a representative of the nonprofit Media of Nebraska.
Said Gilbertson: “We think the public’s right to understand the people their tax dollars are paying … outweighs the right of privacy.”
In opposition were several law enforcement officials, including public attorneys and police union leaders.
Anthony Conner, an officer who heads the Omaha police union, said he was a “staunch” critic and viewed a public list as a way to shame and “jeopardize the reputation and careers” of police officers rather than increase public safety.
Conner called the proposal an “extension of the ‘defund the police’ movement” — a charge that McKinney dismissed as a phrase used to “rile people up.”
Conner was joined in opposition by his Lincoln counterpart, Jeff Sorensen, president of the Lincoln Police Union, and Jim McGuire, president of the Nebraska Fraternal Order of Police.
Mike Jensen, a deputy Douglas County attorney representing the County Attorneys Association, said he was not opposed to providing defense attorneys with the names of officers with misconduct records. He said that was an obligation based on law.
“Public disclosure is what we are opposed to,” he said.
Jensen said he served on a local committee charged with reviewing internal investigations that could place an officer on the so-called Brady-Giglio list, which takes its name from Supreme Court cases involving disclosure of information that may impeach the credibility of prosecution witnesses.
The Judiciary Committee did not take action Wednesday on the bill. Some members raised concerns about unanswered questions, including how well the accusations have been vetted, how far back into an officer’s past the list might extend and what type of offenses would be included.
That's dangerous territory. – State Sen. Suzanne Geist
State Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln said she didn’t see a benefit to publicizing such a list that could disclose past allegations or offenses. “That’s dangerous territory.”
The committee also heard testimony, from some of the same speakers, on a separate but police-related Legislative Bill 1276.
Introduced by McKinney and co-sponsored by Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, that proposed legislation is seen as an effort to strip away “qualified immunity” for police officers and open them up to potential civil legal action.
According to the bill summary, it “acknowledges the insular culture of police departments, resistance to change in police accountability, and the broad legal protections granted to police officers.”
The legislation would provide for people to bring civil actions against law enforcement officers who commit police misconduct and would exempt such actions from the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act and the State Tort Claims Act.
Sorensen, of Lincoln’s police union, said the legislation would have a “disastrous effect” on morale and turn away potential recruits and current officers. He said it would make a policing career “financially unwise” and erode public safety, as officers would be in “self-preservation” reactive mode.
Reading the room, McKinney said his bills might not go anywhere this year, but he said he won’t stop pushing for more accountability.
“There will be more bills coming in the future,” he said.
Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.
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