WASHINGTON, D.C. (WTHR) – Following weeks of historic protests, some Republican lawmakers are now joining Democrats in calling for serious policing reforms. And that change need to happen now, according to Indiana Senator Mike Braun.
“I think the reason this is the time is look at how many times in the recent past we've had similar situations,” Braun said Wednesday morning, speaking to 13News and other news outlets from his Capitol Hill office. “This is the time when it's going to be different […] what we're dealing with here needs to be addressed now.”
Braun is now working with other Senate Republicans to create a bill that tackles police misconduct. Braun said he believes choke holds and other tactics that prevent a suspect from breathing should not be permitted when a suspect is in custody.
“Once you're subdued, neck holds and choke holds, to me, have no place in managing the situation further. It ends up in a disaster now and then which is horrific, and we've just seen it,” Braun said, referencing the recent killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
The Indiana senator also believes police officers who use excessive force should not be entitled to qualified immunity that prevents lawsuits.
“Not to the extent it is now. I'm always going to be for accountability and transparency, and if you do something wrong, you need to be held accountable for it,” said Braun, adding that powerful police unions too frequently attempt to protect or justify “bad behavior” by police officers.
The first-term senator said he also supports mandating police body cameras and a national police database that tracks officer work history, including both commendations and allegations of misconduct.
The proposals are included in a police reform legislative draft plan that Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, introduced Tuesday at a weekly luncheon attended by Republican senators.
CBS News obtained a copy of that plan that identifies 10 key reform areas involving police reporting, accountability, training and relations.
Braun said he has offered to assist Scott and Senate leaders on the police reform legislation. He hopes police departments will initiate changes even before Congress begins debating bills.
While he stressed that most police officers do an outstanding job, Braun said police departments cannot afford inaction following multiple high-profile cases of police misconduct.
“When you have those incidents you need to soul search, self-correct and embrace the needed changes that will help them in the long run,” Braun said, acknowledging that Congress is also under pressure to take action. “When you come to watershed moment like this, I think it's best to look at things as deeply and broadly and try to fix it […] If we don't come up with something that makes sense, we'll be held accountable for it.”
Earlier this week, a group of Senate Democrats introduced detailed legislation to address police reforms.
The Justice in Policing Act, introduced by Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, and Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, is intended to “hold police accountable for misconduct in court, improve transparency through data collection, and reform policing training and policies.”
With both Republicans and Democrats calling for systemic change to reform policing, Braun believes there will be action in the Senate, and he said both sides have already found common ground on some of the issues.
“In this case, when you look at the Booker-Harris bill and when you look at the things we're already talking about in our conference, that's a much narrower gap in terms of reaching something that is going to get done than where we start on most issues,” Braun said. “For the time I’ve been here, [we’ve] gotten to this point of discussion more quickly than any other issue.”