The bipartisan police reform bill signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds this past weekend has been met with praise from many people, including Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn.

House File 2647 brought several big changes to the way law enforcement officials operate in Iowa. Vaughn feels each aspect of the legislation was a logical step, but he also notes that much of it has been in practice in Perry for some time. “You know, all those things are good things, and all things we’ve been working on to try to reform a little bit about the way that we do our jobs. I think this is a little different circumstances, and unfortunately there was an event that triggered this legislation, but it’s definitely stuff that we should be doing anyway without the legislation.”

Vaughn points out that he and the rest of his officers were never trained on chokeholds and haven’t used them in the past, so he says the prohibition on the technique shouldn’t affect them. He also agrees with strengthening the process for certifying and decertifying officers to ensure individuals charged with misconduct can’t jump from one department to another and continue creating problems. As for the requirements for annual anti-bias and de-escalation training, Vaughn is all for them and says his department has consistently done a form of each. That includes a technique called “verbal judo,” which focuses on not only what you say to people but how it’s said.

To hear more from Vaughn about this and other law enforcement topics, click the link below to listen to the recent Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with him.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2020/06/17/lets-talk-dallas-county-6-17-2020-eric-vaughn/