HB2432 - 562R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 13, chapter 40, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 13-4444, to read:

START_STATUTE13-4444. Peace officer violence victims' bill of rights; notice; victim advocate; independent nonprofit legal and advocacy organization; definitions

A. To preserve and protect the rights of victims of peace officer violence and the victim's family to justice and due process, a peace officer violence victim and the victim's family have the right to:

1. Be treated with fairness, respect and dignity and to be free from intimidation, harassment and abuse following an injury or death resulting from a peace officer interaction.

2. Free access to legal and community support following a critical incident.

3. Delay or refuse an interview, deposition or other discovery request from an investigative agency without fear of intimidation or retaliation. A victim's family may not be questioned by investigators or peace officers for at least twenty-four hours following a critical incident.

4. Be free from an investigator's false or misleading information and opinion before the investigation is concluded.

5. Have all conversations with and updates from an investigative agency in the preferred language of the victim or the victim's family, or both. An investigative agency shall make an interpreter or multilingual representative available within one hour after a critical incident and for the duration of the investigation for a non-English speaking victim, the victim's family and any witnesses.

6. Have free, quick and unredacted access to information, materials and findings that are relevant to the victim's injury or death, with an opportunity to review the information, materials and findings for up to forty-eight hours before the information is made publicly available. Unedited and unredacted body-worn camera footage, incident reports, bystander footage and surveillance video shall be shared with the victim's family within seventy-two hours after the critical incident. The victim and the victim's family shall be provided with an opportunity to review any documents and footage forty-eight hours before the information is released to the media or the public. The victim and the victim's family have the right to request that any images of the victim be blurred before a document or footage is publicly released.

7. Have free, quick and unredacted access to all employment files of the peace officer or peace officers involved in the critical incident, including disciplinary history, use of force history, complaint history, personnel files, Arizona peace officer standards and training board files and training history. The victim, the victim's family and the victim's attorney, if any, shall be provided, free of charge and without submitting a public records request, with access to the name, photograph, disciplinary records, complaint records and use of force records of the peace officer or peace officers involved in the critical incident within seventy-two hours after the critical incident.

8. Be informed of, present at and, on request, heard at all investigative and disciplinary proceedings where the peace officer or peace officers involved in the critical incident have the right to be present.

9. Be notified of any investigative milestones and outcomes on the investigation's completion at least twenty-four hours before the public is notified. The victim's family shall be provided with free access to the complete and unredacted investigative file from all investigative agencies without submitting a public records request after the investigation is completed. Investigators and victim advocates shall respond within twenty-four hours to a question from the victim or the victim's family. The independent victim advocate shall provide monthly updates to the victim and the victim's family on the status of the investigation.

10. Petition the county attorney who has jurisdiction to reopen a case against the peace officer or peace officers involved in the critical incident if the county attorney does not initiate a charge against the peace officer or peace officers. A victim whose case has been closed and the victim's family have the opportunity to reopen a case without the case being referred from the investigating law enforcement agency. The process for reopening a case must be clearly written and shared with the victim and the victim's family when criminal charges are not filed against the peace officer or peace officers involved in the critical incident.

11. Have any personal belongings that were logged as evidence authorized for release within twenty-four hours after the criminal investigation into the peace officer or peace officers is closed or within ninety days after the critical incident, whichever occurs first. Personal belongings that are not logged as evidence must be released within fourteen days after the critical incident. The victim and the victim's family must be given a complete list of all personal belongings that have been logged as evidence.

12. Access supportive services and restitution that are paid for by the municipality where the critical incident occurred. The victim, the victim's family and any witnesses have the right to free wraparound support services, including trauma care and mental health care.

13. Discuss and participate in any policy changes and reform efforts in the police department. The victim and the victim's family shall have the opportunity to give input on policy changes and reform efforts at the police department or any other entity that is involved with the investigation.

B. The governing body of each municipality shall establish a victim advocate role, independent of the police department. The victim advocate shall report to the scene of a critical incident to connect the victim, the victim's family and any witnesses with appropriate services.

C. A victim's family shall be notified immediately following any physical harm caused to the victim by a peace officer. Any identifying information and the health status of the victim and details regarding the critical incident may not be publicly released until the victim's family is informed. The victim's identifying information and health status may be released twenty-four hours after the critical incident if every possible attempt to reach the victim's family has been exhausted. The police department may not publicly share the details of the critical incident that could shape the public narrative about the incident, including what preceded the incident and what happened during the incident, until the victim or the victim's family, or both, has had an opportunity to review any body-worn camera footage and incident reports.

D. A police report and all investigative material shall refer to individuals who experience police violence as victims and not as suspects. Any form that is currently in use on the effective date of this section shall be changed to refer to individuals who experience peace officer violence as victims.

E. A municipality or police department may not publicly release false, misleading or incomplete information about a critical incident or the victims of peace officer violence.

F. Notwithstanding any other law, a peace officer who is involved in a shooting or in-custody death must be permanently removed from any law enforcement role and the peace officer's pension must be permanently withheld. Following a critical incident, the role of the peace officer or peace officers involved shall be reviewed and removal shall be considered.

G. This state shall fully fund an independent nonprofit legal and advocacy organization to provide legal counsel and healing support services following a critical incident to victims of peace officer violence or the victim's family, or both. The services shall be provided free of charge and shall include a peace officer misconduct attorney, legal advocate, trauma recovery service provider and other support that is independent of the police department and the municipality. The victim or the victim's family, or both, shall also be provided with access to an independent medical examination or autopsy, or both.

H. Before speaking to an investigator or a peace officer, the victim of a critical incident, the victim's family and any witnesses to the critical incident shall have the opportunity to speak with and be joined by legal counsel, an independent victim advocate and a family member of the victim's choice. Each investigative agency shall establish a clear and written explanation of the following, which may be provided through a victim advocate or legal advocate, or both:

1. The critical incident investigation process.

2. What the victim, the victim's family and any witnesses might expect to occur throughout the investigative process.

3. Information about the victim's and the victim's family's rights.

I. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Critical incident" means an interaction between a peace officer and a civilian that results in physical injury to or the death of the civilian.

2. "Victim" means a person who experiences injury or death resulting from a peace officer interaction, regardless of the status or outcome, or both, of the criminal investigation, civil investigation and disciplinary action that are taken by the peace officer's police department.

3. "Victim's family" means the victim's partner, child, parent, sibling or other lawful representative. END_STATUTE