The Georgia House unanimously backed a bill Tuesday limiting the special treatment officers get when they face a grand jury over the use of deadly force.
House Bill 941 would allow accused officers to appear in the grand jury room, but only to testify, then they would have to leave. Their statements would also be subject to questioning by grand jurors and prosecutors.
Currently, Georgia is the only state in the nation where officers can remain in the grand jury room for the entire proceeding, hear all of the evidence against them, and then make an unchallenged closing statement.
"I think we have a measured, balanced approach without going too far," said the bill's sponsor, state Rep. Rich Golick, R-Smyrna.
The legislation comes after an Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 Action News investigation exposed questions about deadly police shootings in Georgia. The report found that nearly half the 184 Georgians shot and killed by police since 2010 were unarmed or shot in the back.
Those findings emerged from the most extensive review of police shootings ever undertaken in Georgia, and cast doubt on claims by police that deadly force was always justified. The AJC and Channel 2 reported in October that every police shooting case since 2010 had been deemed lawful in the state’s criminal justice system.
The bill now goes to the state Senate for consideration.
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