House Bill 85, drafted by State Representative Mike Johnson, would make it illegal to approach an officer lawfully engaged in law enforcement duties.
NEW ORLEANS — A bill is making its way through the State House aimed at giving police a buffer between them and bystanders.
House Bill 85, drafted by State Representative Mike Johnson, would make it illegal to approach an officer lawfully engaged in law enforcement duties. Johnson says the law was introduced to keep everyone safe.
“It’s to protect the cop,” he said. “To protect the person the officer is investigating or speaking to. And to protect anyone who shows up at an investigation site.”
The officer would first have to ask the person to move at least 25 feet away from the crime scene, which is roughly the length of a car and a half.
Anyone who does not comply can be charged with an administrative offence.
“If you bring in a third party who is not involved in the investigation and gets very close to the officer or the investigation, that creates a danger to the officer,” Johnson said. “Depending on his level of anxiety, this creates a danger for everyone involved.”
Both the Police Association of New Orleans and the local Fraternal Order of Police support passage of the bill.
In a statement, General Council of the Louisiana Fraternal Order of Police Donovan Livaccari wrote: “ We want interactions with the police to be as safe as possible, we want to be able to respect people’s First Amendment right to record interactions with the police, and we want people to be able to see the public service that is going on in on their behalf, but we don’t need people getting hurt in the course of a police action, or accidentally hurting the police, or hurting the others involved.”
Those opposed to the bill say the law could violate a citizen’s right to monitor or record police activity or wrongdoing. Congressman Johnson disagrees.
“I can film a cat’s whiskers from twenty feet away,” he said. “So it really wouldn’t have any effect.”
Stephanie Willis of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana says the bill raises concerns when it comes to documenting police misconduct.
“We know there are so many instances of this happening, past or present, and we have no evidence of this. I understand the security issue, I understand, and we always want to keep our law enforcement safe, but we also want to protect our community,” she said.
Willis says whether or not the law will pass. It is important that citizens know their rights and remain calm when they encounter a situation that they believe to be police misconduct.
“Stay safe, make sure you follow the police officer’s instructions when he asks you to step back, but then you can also observe or record what you see,” she said.
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