[ad_1]
In the battle to stamp out extremism from the ranks of the police, state lawmakers have found themselves confronting a thicket of obstacles and somewhat unexpected opposition, ranging from partisan clashes to profound questions about protecting constitutional rights.
In California, a police officer in Fresno was fired after videos surfaced that showed him supporting the Proud Boys at a protest.
Yet when lawmakers in the state recently proposed legislation to give police departments more power to weed out officers with extremist ties, they met resistance.
Police officers, like everybody else, enjoy First Amendment rights to free speech and free assembly, so the challenge for lawmakers is figuring out how to preserve those rights while barring extremists from infiltrating the ranks.
Brian Marvel, the president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, said in a statement that the organization supported the idea but not the legislation that was drafted. It would “infringe on a person’s individual rights,” he said, and possibly prevent someone from becoming an officer based on personal beliefs, religion or other interests.
Across the country, some of the proposed laws would empower the police to do more robust background checks of recruits, letting them vet social media to make sure new officers were not members of hate groups. Other laws would make it easier for departments to fire officers with ties to extremists.
[ad_2]
Source link
