Legislative Topics

The Voice of Professional Policing in Texas

Legislative Interests

89th Session

Leadership of the Texas Police Chiefs Association (TPCA) has identified several topics of interest as we move into the 89th Session of the Texas Legislature.

FUNDING

TPCA is seeking to sustain and even increase the funding for police training, but specifically in both the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) and Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (LEOSE) funds.

The Texas Police Chiefs Association is a staunch supporter of the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), and the educational opportunities the Institute provides in furthering law enforcement executive leadership and professionalism. In creating the Institute, the Texas Legislature recognized the need for continuing education for its law enforcement executives and mandated by statute the training for existing and new police executives. The 88th session provided a budget increase of $2.8 million per year.

Law enforcement agencies rely heavily on the Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (LEOSE) funds for their training needs. For many agencies across the state, this fund provides well over half of their entire training budget and for others it is the entire training budget. The 88th session provided a budget increase of $6 million per year to a total of now $12 million per year.

ACCREDITATION

Promoting and ensuring integrity and credibility in Texas policing is an overarching mission for TPCA. Accreditation is part of that mission. While SB267 was vetoed last session, TPCA is interested in other options to make this effort more palatable for those involved. The Texas Law Enforcement Accreditation Program has 173 standards which serve as “best practices” for law enforcement agencies across Texas.

INTOXICATING CANNABINOIDS

· Delta 8 & 9

Senate State Affairs Committee Interim Charge: Banning Delta 8 and 9: Examine the sale of intoxicating hemp products in Texas. Make recommendations to further regulate the sale of these products and suggest legislation to stop retailers who market these products to children.

· THC Products

There is a strong need to better regulate THC products sold in vape shops with a specific marketing strategy toward our youth. These products are mislabeled with THC content and come in the form of vape pens and edibles. These products end up in our schools and can easily generate a felony charge for a first-time user.

· Marihuana

TPCA will continue opposing the efforts to de-criminalize marihuana. Evidence from other states who have made the choice to de-criminalize should be substantial in reaching the conclusion that this movement is not in the best interest for our Texas.

MENTAL HEALTH

There is no single greater challenge for law enforcement than that of mental health. The impact of mental health in our society continues to grow and creates challenges for the entire criminal justice system. TPCA seeks solutions and will be a strong advocate for funding, processes, and systems to address the growing, yet chronic challenges in the mental health arena.

EMERGENCY DETENTION AND TRANSPORT

Expand the law to allow Emergency Medical Services personnel to complete Emergency Detention Orders (EDO) for those who are a danger to self and others. This includes mental health professionals and others into the EDO process; this change will provide a more efficient and humane way for a professional response to mental health concern. This will also assist with the significant drain on police resources needed to carry out this misplaced responsibility.

TASER 10

House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety Interim Charge: Use of Less-Lethal Devices in Law Enforcement: Study the use of less-lethal devices in law enforcement encounters, including recent incidents, and their potential to reduce the risk of death or injury to officers and suspects. Consider methods to increase the use of less-lethal devices for the safety and benefit of all parties.

The Taser 10 topic is related to changing the penal code to remove the new taser 10 from being recognized as a deadly weapon under the description of a firearm due to the firing mechanism. The appropriate designation is a less lethal weapon to promote de-escalation and reduce the need for deadly force.

This will not change how ATF classifies the weapon, but many law enforcement executives are postponing the purchase of the new taser until we can make this change at the state level.

Several District Attorneys are supportive of the change.

SQUATTING

Senate Local Government Committee Interim Charge: Review current laws relating to “squatters” or those claiming adverse possession of property. Make recommendations to streamline the process for the immediate removal of “squatters” and to strengthen the rights of property owners.

When a homeowner vacates a property due to extended vacation or placing the property on the market for sale, then squatters move in and claim residency. This can be challenging for law enforcement as some see it as a civil issue vs. criminal.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - PORNOGRAPHY

We must explicitly criminalize the creation, distribution, and possession of AI generated child pornography. This effort must include clear definitions of deep-fakes or synthetic images regardless of whether they are or are not based on real individuals.

UNIVERSITY AND ISD RETIREMENT SYSTEMS

HB4141 last session empowered a study to be conducted by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas on the feasibility of offering alternative service retirement benefits to peace officers who are members of the retirement system. Additionally, life expectancy for peace officers is far lower than other TRS retirees. Currently, peace officers who work for school districts and certain colleges and universities are required to meet the “Rule of 90” (age plus years of service) to qualify for retirement. In a challenging environment for recruitment and retention of peace officers in Texas, alternate retirement plans similar to those of state, county, and municipal peace officers would greatly enhance school-based law enforcement and their ability to recruit and retain the best peace officers.

MACHINE GUN CONVERSION DEVICE

This type of device enables semi-automatic firearms to function in a fully automatic mode, dramatically increasing their firepower and posing severe risks to public safety. A state statute that makes possessing machine gun conversion devices illegal will provide law enforcement and state prosecutors with a statute allowing prosecution of offenders at a local level.

ENHANCED PENALTY FOR EVADING DUE TO SPEED

While police agencies limit vehicle pursuits by policy, pursuits are sometimes necessary for officers as they protect our communities against violent criminals and chronic crime trends. Pursuits in which suspects flee at high rates of speed should have an increased penalty with a minimum jail time. Further consideration should be given to the option of seizing the vehicle driven by the offender if not stolen.

ELIMINATION OF PAPER TAGS

The passage of HB718 during the 88th Legislature provides a strategy and effort to significantly reduce stolen and fraudulent paper vehicle tags. While implementation requires new DMV rules, inventory management and compliance tools, we must stay on course and follow the direction of HB718 as passed. We must rely on law enforcement and criminal justice professionals to provide opinions and feedback on the long-term success of the strategy set forth.

RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

TPCA is seeking support for legislation to enhance recruitment of police officers to fill the high number of vacancies in police agencies across Texas and to further efforts to retain existing officers. Opportunities include relocation bonuses for those who move to Texas to serve as full-time police officers for at least two consecutive years and to include increased salaries for rural municipal police officers as accomplished in SB22 for county deputies.