Republicans defeat effort to protect law enforcement undue liability

Today, Feb. 10, State Rep. Mitch Gore (D-Indianapolis) offered an amendment to Senate Bill 76 to protect local law enforcement officers from being put into situations where they are detaining individuals longer than is legal. The amendment failed by a vote of 34-61. 

Gore, a high-ranking sheriff's deputy, issued the following statement:

“This amendment is about keeping our officers, sheriffs, and jail staff out of hot water—legally, operationally, and financially. Senate Bill 76 ties release decisions to being able to present a passport or a U.S. birth certificate. That may sound simple on paper, but in the real world of policing and jail operations, it creates serious problems. 

“Many people are here in this country legally but are not citizens—green card holders, visa holders, refugees, asylees. Under the current bill language, those individuals could be held longer than legally justified simply because they don’t have a passport or birth certificate in their pocket when they’re arrested. That doesn’t make sense.

“We ask a lot of our law enforcement officers. The least we can do is make sure the laws we pass don’t set them up for failure. This will protect the men and women wearing the badge from being put in an impossible position—forced to choose between releasing someone improperly or holding someone unlawfully.

“My amendment would have fixed that by replacing a citizenship test with a lawful-status standard, which is how federal law actually works. It also removes an artificially narrow list of documents that would otherwise force jails to hold people solely because of missing paperwork.

“Indiana’s police chiefs and sheriffs were supportive of this measure to protect our public safety agencies. I am deeply disappointed that my Republican colleagues chose not to listen to the law enforcement officers who serve their communities."