All 39 Bucks County police departments, the Bucks County Detectives, and Bucks County Rangers have agreed to use a 15-point set of guidelines for officer use of force.
The guidelines were created after months of conversations and meetings between law enforcement officials. Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub was involved with the crafting the document.
Departments will follow the guidelines that were created through the Bucks County Chiefs of Police Association, but each agency will have some flexibility to implement their own policies. As chiefs noted, many departments have had similar guidelines in place for years.
“This is nothing new,” said Bensalem Township Director of Public Safety Fred Harran, who chairs the Bucks County Chiefs of Police Association. “Everybody had their own policy, but we felt it was necessary in Bucks County for everybody to have the same basic principals.”
Harran said the guidelines will put on-the-ground law enforcement agencies and the district attorney’s office on the same page.
Of the 41 law enforcement agencies in the county, about 15 are accredited by either Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission and the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and have focused for years on stepped up policies and procedures, said Upper Southampton Township Chief Ron MacPherson, a former Falls Township lawman who is president of the Bucks County Chiefs of Police Association.
The guidelines will require officers to focus on deescalation, no warning shots fired from a moving vehicle, a requirement to render medical aid after any use of force, make officers intervene if a fellow officer is acting improper, banning chokeholds unless an officer is using deadly force, reports on use-of-force incidents, plans to review use-of-force incidents, and a collection of data. Deadly force is only to be used when “an officer reasonably believes the action is in defense of any human life in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury.” (See the full list of guidelines)
Weintraub said the idea is create guidelines that allow the general public and police to have the same perception of acceptable use of force.
“The police must hold themselves to the highest standards any time they use force on a member of the public. We can’t even afford one single mistake because mistakes can be deadly,” the district attorney said.
“This is a step in the right direction when people talk about police reform,” MacPherson said.
The Upper Southampton chief noted that law enforcement spoke with several advocacy organizations calling for police reform when drafting the guidelines.
The Allegheny County Chiefs of Police Association worked with the local district attorney’s office on a similar set of guidelines for use countywide, but Harran said Bucks County is the first in the eastern part of Pennsylvania to rollout widespread use-of-force guidelines.
The guidelines were developed by chiefs on a committee led by Harran after a suggestion was mentioned in a meeting earlier this year. Tullytown Borough Chief Daniel Doyle, Morrisville Borough Chief George McClay, Yardley Borough Chief Joe Kelly, Buckingham Township Chief Mike Gallagher, Penndel Borough Chief Sean Perry, Langhorne Borough Chief John Godzieba, and Bristol Borough Chief Steve Henry served on the committee that met to develop the guidelines.
“It took us several months to accomplish this task, and I applaud the committee members,” MacPherson said.
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