BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana lawmakers are moving forward with a proposal to increase police officers’ training requirements nearly a year after police fatally shot a black man outside a Baton Rouge convenience store.
The House voted 82-5 Thursday in favor of Rep. Ted James’ bill, which calls for officers to receive at least 400 hours of basic training and learn more about de-escalation practices, recognizing biases and handling in-custody deaths.
James says many departments already exceed 400 training hours, but he wants a statewide minimum.
The measure heads to the Senate for consideration.
James, a Baton Rouge Democrat, says the proposal was prompted by the July death of Alton Sterling, who was killed during a struggle with two white officers. The officers are on leave pending an investigation.
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House Bill 277: www.legis.la.gov
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