Indiana Legislature passes bill to protect monuments, withhold funds from cities that allow their destruction msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Bill would increase vandalism penalties
Elevates rioting charge, fines cities over statues
NIKI KELLY | The Journal Gazette
INDIANAPOLIS – State lawmakers are taking a stand against destruction or vandalism to public monuments or statues – increasing the criminal penalty and taking money from cities or other units of government that fail to protect the memorials.
The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee significantly amended a bill Wednesday and then passed it 9-3, with Democrats opposed.
The move comes after several monuments and memorials were damaged – or even torn down – during protests and riots last year. In Fort Wayne, messages saying “Quit Pigs” and “BLM” were spray painted on the Police and Firefighters Memorial.
Landmark police reform legislation is just the stroke of a pen away from becoming law.
The measure, crafted over the last year following protests around the country against police misconduct and racial inequity, was unanimously approved by the Indiana Senate Tuesday.
The bill, HB 1006, requires all police to undergo de-escalation training and makes it easier for the state to de-certify those who commit misconduct, even without a criminal conviction. De-certification prevents someone from being employed as a police officer in the state.
Sen Mike Young (R-Indianapolis) said the measure also restricts police’s use of chokeholds by classifying them as deadly force.
Indiana lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow courts to charge people over the age of 21 as adults for child molestation acts they committed when they were teenagers.
Landmark Police Reform Bill Heads To Governor's Desk wboi.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wboi.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.