SALEM, Ore.- Today, the Oregon House advanced legislation to increase police officer accountability. It’s part of a series of bills just passed in the House aimed at criminal justice reform.
House bill 2929 requires officers who witness misconduct or minimum standard violations to report the violation within 72 hours to a direct supervisor, a superior officer in their chain of command, or the ‘department of public safety standards and training’.
Backers say it strengthens requirements for reporting misconduct or violations of physical, emotional, intellectual, or moral fitness standards.
The Oregon House also passing bills that it says would protect the privacy of Oregonians.
House bill 3273 limits the circumstances under which law enforcement agencies can release booking photos. It also creates rules for removing these photos from publish-for-pay publications.
House Bill 3047 takes aim at the act of doxing, which is when someone deliberately releases a person’s private information online with the intent to incite harassment. The bill would give a person cause for suing for damages if information is released without their consent.
Another set of Oregon House bills deal with police uniforms and how they should manage unlawful assemblies.
HB 3355 specifies what identification must be on an officer’s uniform during crowd management situations. It also prohibits officers from intentionally obscuring identifying information, like badge numbers.
HB 3059 will allow bureaus more flexibility to not arrest non-violent protesters when an “unlawful assembly” is declared. Supporters of the bill say it is one step toward ending the mass arrests and use of force on peaceful protesters.
All bills passed the House and are headed to the Senate.
© 2023 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.