AUSTIN — As national unrest swells over police officers not indicted in high-profile shootings, a Texas House panel is trying to calm public concerns that prosecutors who investigate officer-involved incidents are biased.
Parents of children shot by Texas law enforcement officers told the newly created Select Committee on Emerging Issues in Texas Law Enforcement on Thursday that they are concerned about the lack of indictments.
Under bills by Democratic representatives Harold Dutton Jr. and Ron Reynolds, officer-involved incidents and police misconduct would be prosecuted by someone other than the law enforcement officer's local district attorney’s office.
The bills were left pending in committee.
Dutton told committee members that the “perception of bias has to be eliminated from the system,” adding that now, prosecutors are asked to “essentially prosecute their friends.” (AP)
