Which States Have Acted on Police Reform?

One year after the death of George Floyd, 21 U.S. states have passed bills focused on police oversight. 17 more have not passed any such bills, but have pending legislation. This is according to information compiled in a National Conference of State Legislatures' database that premiered after Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the case and is awaiting sentencing. He knelt on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes as a result of which Floyd lost consciousness and died.

According to an earlier article by the Marshall Project, Colorado, Iowa, New York and Connecticut were the quickest to successfully pass legislation aimed at improving police oversight and accountability.

Colorado’s bill, for example, requires all officers to wear body cameras by 2023, bans chokeholds and carotid holds, holds officers legally accountable for failing to intervene against other officers using excessive force, and removes the qualified immunity defense – allowing civil rights claims against officers to be brought to court. The bill also adds protections to protesters and gives the state attorney general more power in prosecuting poor departments and officers.

Not all bills on police oversight are as comprehensive as Colorado's, however. Some smaller and less populated states, including South Dakota and Louisiana, have in the aftermath of Floyd's death established or strengthened police oversight commissions or expanded training requirements for peace officers.