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Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton asks for power to investigate police who kill people

Texas Attorney General has asked the Legislature for more power to investigate police who kill people.

TEXAS, USA — On Thursday, Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton asked the legislature for more power to investigate police officers who kill people.

Paxton stated that the local authorities, who are left to investigate misconduct cases on police officers, may have too much conflict of interests, due to their close work relationships with the officers.

Writing in the Austin-American Statesman, Paxton expressed how public confidence in law enforcement will only be further eroded if the investigations of those who are accused of misconduct are investigated locally.

“Apparent or actual conflicts of interest in these horrific cases will only serve to further erode public confidence in our law enforcement institutions,” Paxton wrote. “To restore that confidence, I am asking the Texas Legislature to empower the Texas Attorney General’s Office to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute law enforcement officer actions that end in death.” 

Although Paxton expects his proposal to generate resistance from local prosecutors, he states that Texas is “not immune to allegations of police misconduct.”  

With the expansion of the attorney general office's authority with taking on police misconduct investigations, a new law would be passed by the Texas Legislature, convening in January.

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