S.20.3-5: Safer Crowd Control Act (Law'd)

[tmthforu94]

AN ACT
to make crowd control more humane throughout the South

Section 1 (Title & Definitions)
i. The title of this act shall be, the “Safer Crowd Control Act."
ii. As used in this legislation, "rubber bullet" refers to a projectile made of or coated in rubber and shot out of a firearm.
iii. As used in this legislation, "stun grenade" refers to an explosive device that produces a bright flash and a loud noise so as to stun or disorient people without causing serious injury.

Section 2 (Prohibition of rubber bullet use in crowd control)
i. No law enforcement agency within the South may deploy rubber bullets or stun grenades for the purposes of crowd control or dispersal, unless a gathering is declared an unlawful assembly by the governor of the state or territory, or the mayor of the city where the demonstration is taking place.

Section 3 (Implementation)
i. This legislation shall come into effect immediately upon signature by the Governor.

Sponsor: Governor MB

Minimum 48 hours for debate. The sponsor is invited to advocate for the bill.

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

Section 2 (Prohibition of rubber bullet use in crowd control)
i. No law enforcement agency within the South may deploy rubber bullets or stun grenades for the purposes of crowd control or dispersal.

Governor wants to handy cap the ability of the the government to combat rioting & insurrection.

[Dr. MB]

This bill is aimed at combating crowd control methods like rubber bullets and stun grenades. While billed as "safe", that couldn't be further from the truth:

When shot at close range, rubber bullets cause damage on par with a car accident. The blunt force can break bones and crush or tear the blood vessels in the area of impact—which can cause bleeding in nearby organs, such as the kidneys, spleen, or liver.

Adding onto the fact that all too often rubber bullets are used on generally peaceful protests, legitimizing use of devices that can break bones and cause serious organ damage - even blind people if they're aimed at the face - reeks of police state tactics.

Stun grenades aren't safe either. They can cause permanent hearing loss, ringing in the ears, and can cause head injuries for people close to the blast.

I halted the use of these already by executive order but I'm looking to make this a permanent change.

[tmthforu94]

After reading the evidence provided by the Governor, I'm inclined to support this bill. Police reform is also something I will be taking on this session, but currently working with federal officials on national legislation before doing anything regionally.

[Senator-elect Spark]

I'm inclined to support this bill. We need to reform our police departments.

[tmthforu94]

Anyone else have feedback before we bring this to a vote?

[reagente]

I propose the following amendment:

AN ACT
to make crowd control more humane throughout the South

Section 1 (Title & Definitions)
i. The title of this act shall be, the “Safer Crowd Control Act."
ii. As used in this legislation, "rubber bullet" refers to a projectile made of or coated in rubber and shot out of a firearm.
iii. As used in this legislation, "stun grenade" refers to an explosive device that produces a bright flash and a loud noise so as to stun or disorient people without causing serious injury.

Section 2 (Prohibition of rubber bullet use in crowd control)
i. No law enforcement agency within the South may deploy rubber bullets or stun grenades for the purposes of crowd control or dispersal, unless a gathering is declared an unlawful assembly

Section 3 (Implementation)
i. This legislation shall come into effect immediately upon signature by the Governor.

In general I don't think these riot control tactics should be utilized, but in dangerous circumstances I don't think they should be taken off the table.

[tmthforu94]

24 hours for an objection.

[tmthforu94]

Reagente's amendment has been adopted, debate resumes.

[Dr. MB]

Hey sorry I didn't get to this earlier but I'm against this amendment. What's stopping police from declaring any protest an "unlawful assembly"? This seems rife for abuse of power.

[reagente]

Hey sorry I didn't get to this earlier but I'm against this amendment. What's stopping police from declaring any protest an "unlawful assembly"? This seems rife for abuse of power.

Local laws govern the circumstances when police are allowed to declare unlawful assemblies, so police are not just able to declare a gathering an unlawful assembly at will.

However, if that isn't enough to mollify concerns, what if we instead make it contingent on the declaration of an unlawful assembly by elected officials like governors?

Something like this:

Section 2 (Prohibition of rubber bullet use in crowd control)
i. No law enforcement agency within the South may deploy rubber bullets or stun grenades for the purposes of crowd control or dispersal, unless a gathering is declared an unlawful assembly by the governor of the state or territory where the demonstration is taking place

(I'm currently gauging feedback, not proposing an amendment yet)

[Dr. MB]

Hey sorry I didn't get to this earlier but I'm against this amendment. What's stopping police from declaring any protest an "unlawful assembly"? This seems rife for abuse of power.

Local laws govern the circumstances when police are allowed to declare unlawful assemblies, so police are not just able to declare a gathering an unlawful assembly at will.

However, if that isn't enough to mollify concerns, what if we instead make it contingent on the declaration of an unlawful assembly by elected officials like governors?

Something like this:

Section 2 (Prohibition of rubber bullet use in crowd control)
i. No law enforcement agency within the South may deploy rubber bullets or stun grenades for the purposes of crowd control or dispersal, unless a gathering is declared an unlawful assembly by the governor of the state or territory where the demonstration is taking place

(I'm currently gauging feedback, not proposing an amendment yet)

Yeah that would be a lot better. I'd agree to that.

[tmthforu94]

Offering Reagente's proposal as an amendment to keep the ball rolling:

Section 2 (Prohibition of rubber bullet use in crowd control)
i. No law enforcement agency within the South may deploy rubber bullets or stun grenades for the purposes of crowd control or dispersal, unless a gathering is declared an unlawful assembly by the governor of the state or territory where the demonstration is taking place

24 hours for objections.

[tmthforu94]

The amendment has been adopted.

Going to go ahead and motion for a final vote, 24 hours if anyone has an objection or additional amendment to offer.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

I think the mayor should also have the power to declare an unlawful assembly. It's really important for mayors of big cities to be allowed to do this in order to maintain control in the case of an emergency. The Governor of a big state like Texas might not be able to respond fast enough to an unlawful assembly in say, Austin.

AN ACT
to make crowd control more humane throughout the South

Section 1 (Title & Definitions)
i. The title of this act shall be, the “Safer Crowd Control Act."
ii. As used in this legislation, "rubber bullet" refers to a projectile made of or coated in rubber and shot out of a firearm.
iii. As used in this legislation, "stun grenade" refers to an explosive device that produces a bright flash and a loud noise so as to stun or disorient people without causing serious injury.

Section 2 (Prohibition of rubber bullet use in crowd control)
i. No law enforcement agency within the South may deploy rubber bullets or stun grenades for the purposes of crowd control or dispersal, unless a gathering is declared an unlawful assembly by the governor of the state or territory, or the mayor of the city where the demonstration is taking place.

Section 3 (Implementation)
i. This legislation shall come into effect immediately upon signature by the Governor.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Fair. I support this amendment.

[tmthforu94]

24 hours for objections to DTC’s amendment.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

No objection.

[tmthforu94]

DTC's amendment is adopted, debate resumes.

[thumb21]

Motion for a final vote if there are no other issues

[tmthforu94]

Motion has been recognized, 24 hours for objections.

[tmthforu94]

A final vote has started, please vote AYE, NAY or ABSTAIN.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

AYE

[Senator-elect Spark]

Aye

[tmthforu94]

Aye