More than 20 senior police officers in Washington, D.C., will not return to the force after the end of this month, with more than half facing suspicions of serious misconduct.
All 21 officers had retired and were rehired by the Metropolitan Police Department every year, according to Fox 5 DC. All of these executives’ contracts end on April 30th.
The Omnibus Police and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 prohibits police departments from “appointing officers with a background of serious misconduct,” police spokesperson Tom Lynch told the outlet. told.
As a result of this law, 12 officers were fired.
Multiple injured in DC nightclub shooting
More than 20 senior police officers in Washington, D.C., will not return to the force after the end of this month. (Getty Images)
According to Fox 5 DC, the law was first introduced in the summer of 2020 in response to the killing of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer, and was made permanent in December 2022 with the signature of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. It was submitted to Congress without a resolution. .
The bill would strengthen police disciplinary procedures, address police use of force, limit consent searches, strengthen police complaint lines, ensure investigations into potential police misconduct and The purpose is to make it easier for the public to access recordings and body camera footage in cases where such access is prohibited. Reduce departments that hire officers who have been disciplined or fired for past gross misconduct.
It also called for a 1985 law banning chokeholds and neck restraints to be “clearly strengthened.”
Lynch said the contracts of nine other officers were not renewed “for a variety of reasons,” but details of why those officers were fired were unclear.
D.C. mayor refuses to meet with father who lost three sons to violent crime in the city
Twelve police officers were fired under the Comprehensive Police and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“The D.C. Police Union has been notified that 12 senior police officers will be terminated in the coming months,” the D.C. Police Union said in a statement. “Senior police officers are officers who retired from the police department but returned to continue serving their communities as sworn law enforcement officers.The reasons MPD provided to the union for these terminations were Police and Justice Reform Act.”
“This bill is by far the worst public safety bill ever passed by the D.C. Council, and it continues to wreak havoc on police departments. It’s remarkable how this bill was drafted and supported. Worth it. [D.C. Councilmember] Charles Allen and his anti-police followers,” the statement continues.
The union added: “This bill prohibits the employment of any sworn employee who has received ongoing discipline from a law enforcement agency, including the Metropolitan Police Department. These officers, who have spent their careers in protection, are ineligible to remain in the Metropolitan Police Department due to past administrative staffing issues, some of them more than 20 years old.
