Arizona bill mandates outside probes of police shootings

(KYMA, KECY/ AP News) - Under a measure unanimously approved by a House Committee Monday, police shootings and any other use of deadly force by law enforcement officers in Arizona would be required to be investigated by a new division of the Department of Public Safety or an outside agency.

The proposal was developed with input from major Arizona law enforcement agencies over the past year and applies to all uses of deadly force.

This has emerged after years of growing concern and public suspicion about police agencies investigating their own officers after a deadly encounter, both in arizona and nationally.

The bill was crafted after extensive collaboration between House Speaker Rusty Bowers and sheriff’s and police departments.

The bill contains $24 million in funding to set up the new DPS division and leaves it to the DPS director to choose staff and design policies for the new division.

Bowers calling the proposal  “one of the largest reforms ever seen in Arizona relating to major use of force incidents involving our law enforcement.”