Mike Ramos Act To Create New Standards For TX Officer Discipline

Austin TX

11 March, 2021

3:14 PM

Description

AUSTIN, TX — Texas State Senator Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin) and the mother of Michael Ramos have filed legislation that would create new standards for officer discipline and expand access to body camera footage in use of force cases in the state. Eckhardt and Ramos' mother, Brenda Ramos, told reporters at a virtual news conference on Thursday they filed the Mike Ramos Act in the Texas Legislature. The proposed legislation is named after Ramos who was killed by Austin police in 2020. Ramos, 42, was shot by Austin police officer Christopher Taylor after a group of officers responded to a 9-1-1 call reporting that "a person possibly involved in a drug deal had a gun." Authorities said Ramos did not comply with police orders and that an officer shot him with "less lethal" bean bag ammunition. After being hit with the bean bag, Ramos got in a car and started driving. Taylor fired three shots at his moving car, according to authorities. Authorities later confirmed that Ramos did not have a gun, according to a May 2020 Patch report. Eckhardt said the bill would direct the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to create a new training model on de-escalation and use of force for law enforcement agencies and establish a list of offenses for which a peace officer's license may be revoked or suspended. Law enforcement agencies would be required to release body camera footage to members or staff of any existing civilian oversight body, then to attorneys representing the officer under investigation and the family or individual subject of the incident, followed by release to the public, Eckhardt said. The proposed legislation would also close the dead suspect loophole which shields the release of evidence when an investigation doesn't result in a criminal conviction or deferred adjudication. "Mike was my everything. Sometimes I feel so broken and alone, but I made a promise to myself and to my son, that I would do everything I can to prevent this from happening to another family," Ramos told reporters on Thursday. Ramos said what haunts her as a mother is seeing her son's confusion and fear before he got in the car and fled in the video released by law enforcement and bystander video. "All these Austin police officers screamed and screamed at him with guns drawn. I could hear him saying 'Y'all are scaring me. Why do you got guns? Don't shoot y'all!' Why did they have to scream? ... Why did they escalate to violence?," Ramos said. Ramos said it means everything to her that the proposed law will train police and save other mother's from the same fate. The decision to file the bill comes hours after Travis County District Attorney José P. Garza announced he had issued an indictment against Taylor for a first-degree felony murder charge. The indictment is the first known indictment against an Austin Police Department officer for the felony charge of first-degree murder arising out of a use of force incident, Garza told reporters in a virtual news conference on Thursday. More on the story: Austin Police Officer Charged With Murder In Michael Ramos Case In response to Taylor's indictment, Ramos told reporters Thursday it feels good that justice is being made for her son, but said "it's just the start" and there's "still a long way to go." HB 3654 (Mike Ramos Act) includes the following provisions: authorizing a licensing fee on police officers to generate revenue for expanding the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement's (TCOLE) role in police oversight;requiring TCOLE to create a model use-of-force policy and specifying standards for such a policy;authorizing new grounds upon which TCOLE can take an officer's license, including for a pattern of excessive force, without limiting any officer right to appeal;reforming the body camera statute to:eliminate the provision allowing officers to see all video before making a statement;ensuring that departments have a policy under which video is to be released in critical incidents first to any civilian oversight entity engaged in the investigation, then to the officer and the subject (or family, if deceased), and finally to the public. RELATED COVERAGE TX Attorney General Threatens To Sue Austin For Mask Order Former Westlake Football Player Killed In RM 2244 Fatal Crash Northeast Austin Crash That Killed Woman Was Hit-And-Run: Police Body Found In North Austin Motel Identified; Police Seek Suspects