Representative Anthony E. Loubet proposes the following substitute bill:


1     
PEACE OFFICER STANDARDS AND TRAINING AMENDMENTS

2     
2024 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Anthony E. Loubet

5     
Senate Sponsor: Todd D. Weiler

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill modifies the training requirements of peace officers.
10     Highlighted Provisions:
11          This bill:
12          ▸     modifies the annual training requirements for peace officers;
13          ▸     requires certain peace officer trainings currently required to be completed annually
14     to be completed in a three year cycle; and
15          ▸     makes technical and conforming changes.
16     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
17          None
18     Other Special Clauses:
19          None
20     Utah Code Sections Affected:
21     AMENDS:
22          53-6-202, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapters 158, 445
23     

24     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
25          Section 1. Section 53-6-202 is amended to read:
26          53-6-202. Basic training course -- Completion required -- Annual training --
27     Prohibition from exercising powers -- Reinstatement.
28          (1) (a) The director shall:
29          (i) (A) suggest and prepare subject material; and
30          (B) schedule instructors for basic training courses; or
31          (ii) review the material and instructor choices submitted by a certified academy.
32          (b) The subject material, instructors, and schedules shall be approved or disapproved
33     by a majority vote of the council.
34          (2) The materials shall be reviewed and approved by the council on or before July 1st
35     of each year and may from time to time be changed or amended by majority vote of the council.
36          (3) The basic training in a certified academy:
37          (a) shall be appropriate for the basic training of peace officers in the techniques of law
38     enforcement in the discretion of the director; [and]
39          (b) may not include the use of chokeholds, carotid restraints, or any act that impedes
40     the breathing or circulation of blood likely to produce a loss of consciousness, as a valid
41     method of restraint[.]; and
42          (c) shall include instruction on identifying, responding to, and reporting a criminal
43     offense that is motivated by a personal attribute as that term is defined in Section 76-3-203.14.
44          (4) (a) All peace officers shall satisfactorily complete the basic training course or the
45     waiver process provided for in this chapter as well as annual certified training of not less than
46     40 hours as the director, with the advice and consent of the council, directs.
47          (b) A peace officer who fails to satisfactorily complete the annual training described in
48     Subsection (4)(a) shall automatically be prohibited from exercising peace officer powers until
49     any deficiency is made up.
50          (c) The annual training described in Subsection (4)(a) shall include training focused on
51     arrest control and de-escalation training.
52          [(c) (i) Beginning July 1, 2021, the annual training shall include no less than 16 hours
53     of training focused on mental health and other crisis intervention responses, arrest control, and
54     de-escalation training.]
55          [(ii) Standards for the training shall be determined by each law enforcement agency or
56     department and approved by the director or designee.]
57          [(iii) Each law enforcement agency or department shall include a breakdown of the 16
58     hours within the annual audit submitted to the division.]
59          (5) (a) Beginning July 1, 2024, all peace officers who are currently employed shall
60     participate in a training at least every three years focused on the following:
61          (i) mental health and other crisis intervention responses;
62          (ii) intervention responses for mental illnesses, autism spectrum disorder, and other
63     neurological and developmental disorders; and
64          (iii) responses to sexual traumas and investigations of sexual assault and sexual abuse
65     in accordance with Section 53-10-908.
66          (b) Any training in which a peace officer participates as described in Subsection (5)(a)
67     shall count toward the peace officer's 40-hour required annual training described in Subsection
68     (4)(a) for the year in which the peace officer participated in the training.
69          (6) (a) The director or the director's designee, in coordination with the council, shall
70     promulgate the standards for the trainings described in Subsection (4).
71          (b) The chief law enforcement officer or executive officer of the peace officer's
72     employing agency shall determine if a peace officer has complied with the standards
73     established under Subsection (6)(a).
74          [(5) Beginning July 1, 2021, the director shall ensure that annual training covers
75     intervention responses for mental illnesses, autism spectrum disorder, and other neurological
76     and developmental disorders.]
77          [(6) Beginning July 1, 2023, the director shall ensure that annual training covers at
78     least one hour of training on responses to sexual traumas and investigations of sexual assault
79     and sexual abuse in accordance with Section 53-10-908.]
80          [(7) Beginning July 1, 2023, the director shall, subject to approval by a majority vote of
81     the council, ensure that the basic training curriculum covers instruction on identifying,
82     responding to, and reporting a criminal offense that is motivated by a personal attribute, as that
83     term is defined in Section 76-3-203.14, victim targeting penalty enhancement.]
84          Section 2. Effective date.
85          This bill takes effect on May 1, 2024.