Texas Law Proposed to Require All Police Officers to Carry Liability Insurance
Texas is the latest state to propose a bill to require all police officers to carry professional liability insurance as a condition of their employment. This law is being proposed as a way to provide meaningful police reform and to shift the burden of paying out settlements of misconduct from taxpayers to the officers themselves.
The bill, which was introduced by Texas State Representative Jolanda Jones, would require all police officers to carry professional liability insurance. This insurance would cover the cost of settlements, judgments, and other expenses associated with lawsuits stemming from actions taken while on the job. The cost of this insurance would be borne by the officers themselves, and not by the taxpayers.
Rep. Jolanda Jones, said will make cops think twice before unnecessary action against the public. The bill was inspired in part by the beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police, which resulted in his death.
“For far too long law enforcement officers use their jobs to justify taking extreme, unjustified actions that kill our neighbors, friends and family,” Jones said.
“You can’t waffle taxpayers to pay for rouge officers,” Jones said.
Jones is a defense attorney as well as a state legislator and said the bill would shift the burden of paying out settlements of misconduct from taxpayers to the officer.
“It is time that we have meaningful police reform while providing relief for taxpayers for police misconduct,” Jones said.
Additionally, the Houston representative said the bill would not impact qualified immunity. Jones argued this law won’t impact police staffing or recruitment.
“What are you afraid of?” Jones questioned. “If you’re a good officer, you literally have nothing to worry about.”