Crimes & Criminal Reform ( CONTINUED )
• Oppose raising the age for when a child becomes an adult from 17 to 18 . This would place a burden on the over-crowded and under-resourced juvenile justice system .
Police Operations / Tactics
• Inform legislators that GACP is opposed to racial / bias-based profiling .
• Oppose the outright elimination of no-knock warrants . There are situations where such warrants are necessary and prudent . Any request for a no-knock warrant , as well as the warrant service itself , should meet certain criteria and require command-level approval / oversight .
• Oppose the outright elimination of civil asset forfeiture . Proposed bills should be reviewed individually . Agencies that initiate dubious forfeiture proceedings , utilize forfeited funds for questionable purposes , or fail to comply with any mandated reporting standards should be subject to review and sanctions by an appropriate governmental entity .
• Strongly Oppose any reduction or elimination of qualified immunity for law enforcement officers .
• Support improvements in training of law enforcement officers , particularly for the basic mandate academies . Emphasis should be not only on the number of hours , but also on the type and quality of training . However , there must be adequate funding both at the state and local levels . Applicable fines / forfeitures that , per Amendment to the Georgia Constitution , that are directed for the specific purpose of training law enforcement and prosecutors should be utilized accordingly .
• Support the use of body-worn cameras . However , any mandates for use should take into account the necessary funding required for acquisition of the technology as well as the recurring data storage / management costs ( which far exceed initial acquisition costs ).
• Educate the Legislature and Governor on police vehicle pursuits and best practices .
• Support the ability for agencies to utilize the uniform traffic citation or the uniform misdemeanor citation for specific misdemeanor offenses and ordinance violations .
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