By Ian Underwood for The Liberty Block
Every few days, it seems, we hear about some situation where a police officer does something beyond the pale, like leaving a child to bleed out in the back seat of a patrol car, beating a suspect who is handcuffed to a chair, and so on.
In many cases, insult is added to injury when the officer’s department announces that an internal investigation has concluded that prosecution is not warranted.
It’s easy to forget, but the police are our employees. They work for us, not the other way around. So it seems only fair that citizens should be afforded the same opportunities as their hired help:
AN ACT relative to criminal investigative procedures.
ANALYSIS
This bill eliminates a discriminatory procedural disparity in the investigation and subsequent disposition of potential criminal charges.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
Any person, upon being informed that he is suspected of committing some crime, misdemeanor, or infraction, shall immediately commence an investigation into the matter; and upon the conclusion of this investigation, shall recommend which charges, if any, are to be filed, which recommendation shall be binding on the prosecuting attorneys for that jurisdiction.
Effective Date. This act shall take effect immediately after its passage.
As with other acts that I’ll be discussing, I wouldn’t expect this to pass. But I do think it would be enlightening to listen to the testimony of the people who would oppose it.
