10-6-20 – OKLAHOMA CITY — KOCO
State lawmakers are looking into ways to better support and provide for law enforcement in Oklahoma.
During an interim study held Tuesday at the state Capitol, lawmakers looked at various subjects such as officers’ mental health needs to how policies affect their work. Lawmakers hope the study can lead to legislation to better protect and support Oklahoma law enforcement.Advertisement
State Rep. Justin Humphrey, who has 30 years of experience in law enforcement, led the study.
“Nobody thinks about doing CPR on small children and having to deal with the crisis of losing people, domestic abuse and all those things that they deal with on a daily basis,” Humphrey said. “And then they have to put on the proper frame of mind to continue throughout the day every day.”
Members of the Public Safety Committee joined Humphrey, hearing from speakers about mental health needs for officers, statistics surrounding police brutality and accountability. The group also heard from the state’s leader for officer training about training practices.
“If you really want to make an impact on law enforcement training and the good will of law enforcement officers, you need to make an investment in their training and education,” Humphrey said.
The state representative added that they have a few bills on the table they’re looking into for next session. One of those bills includes stopping doxing, and another would be to help with officer PTSD.
“Officers are expected to just suck it up and just do their job, so we need to talk about how they deal and cope with all the things they’re faced with,” Humphrey said.