SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – After several months of evaluating drafts, the South Bend Board of Public Safety approved a new use of force policy for the police department in a 4-1 vote on Wednesday.
However, the board is giving the city 60 days to make revisions to the policy, as some members believed some language should be clearer.
Board member Darryl Heller asked if it was possible to delay the vote until the policy’s language was better defined for certain topics, such as “imminent danger” as listed in the section on use of deadly force.
“It’s really important that there is full, as much as possible, consensus on this. The use of force is one of, one of the aspects of policing that’s the most controversial – and, you know, controversial for a reason,” said Heller. “And there’s a real history to this, particularly when it comes to communities of color.”
