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How leaders are thinking about police reform 4 years after George Floyd's murder
Resume![A protester sits and holds a sign with George Floyd’s image during an 8 minute and 26 second moment of silence in front of the Boston police substation in Jamaica Plain in 2020. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)](https://wordpress.wbur.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/0604_blm-protest16-1000x667.jpg)
Tomorrow, Beacon Hill lawmakers on the Joint Committee on the Judiciary will take up the future of the Medical Civil Rights Act. If enacted, Massachusetts would become the second state nationally to require law enforcement officers to call for emergency medical attention if someone appears to be in medical crisis or communicates they're in medical crisis during interactions with law enforcement officers.
It's something that Selwyn Jones has advocated for. Four years after his nephew, George Floyd, was killed by Minneapolis police, Jones has been lobbying in the Commonwealth and across the country for reform. We speak with him on the work he's doing in the name of his nephew.
Then, we'll reflect on police reform with a panel of local leaders, including Jennifer Root Bannon, whose brother was fatally shot by police in Massachusetts in 2020.
Editor's note: an earlier version of this post said the Medical Civil Rights Act would require medical attention in crises during interactions with police. The Medical Civil Rights Act would extend to interactions with other law enforcement officials as well, including correctional officers. We regret the error.
This segment aired on April 29, 2024.