Members of the Georgia General Assembly filed various bills this week that would, if enacted into law, require law enforcement agencies to speak in languages other than English when working with members of the public.
The first bill, SB 308, calls on the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority (GECA) and the state’s 911 systems to have a statewide system of language translation services. The Georgia General Assembly’s website identifies State Sen. Sheikh Rahman (D-Lawrenceville) as the bill’s primary sponsor. Nineteen other state senators, all Democrats, are co-sponsoring the bill.
According to its website, the three-year-old GECA oversees 911 and other emergency communications throughout Georgia. GECA has a 15-member board of directors. The governor appoints them.
Another bill, SB 311, would require that the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (P.O.S.T.) establish training in certain languages other than English. This, as part of the curriculum for basic and in-service training courses for all peace officers, according to the language of the bill. The Georgia General Assembly’s website identifies State Sen. Michelle Au (D-Johns Creek) as the bill’s primary sponsor. The bill has 17 co-sponsors. Sixteen of those are Democrats, and one, State Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, is a Republican.
According to its website, members of the Georgia P.O.S.T. Council administer the regulatory process, set the standards for training and certification, and provide essential technical assistance to the state’s law enforcement community.The POST Council consists of 19 voting members and a number of advisory members. They meet quarterly.
As The Georgia Star News reported last month, Rahman was one of 16 Democrats in the Georgia State Senate who filed a bill this year calling on Georgia to enact the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. According to the language of the bill, the agreement calls on states “to join together to establish an interstate compact to elect the president by national popular vote.”
Au, as reported, co-sponsored a bill to add an amendment to the state constitution that would mandate workers have a Family Medical Leave Fund.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo” 911 Dispatcher” by ICMA Photos. CC BY-SA 2.0.
