ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

House Bill 2650, sponsored by House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, is designed to be a key step in making sure law enforcement agencies do not investigate “critical force incidents’’ involving their own officers.

Police and sheriff’s departments would not be required to use the new DPS bureau. They also could turn an inquiry over to a regional law enforcement task force or any other agency. (Earlier this month, nine Southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ law enforcement agencies announced they have launched their own critical incident team.)

Bowers said he contacted various police chiefs and sheriffs following a series of shootings last year amid questions by some in the public about whether the incidents were being properly investigated. They, in turn, came up with this plan. Bowers told the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday he believes it makes sense.

“There was, and I think there still is, a sense among many people that they would like to not have any ‘good old boy’ reviews, but that there would be a very professional oversight and training by the officers involved’’ in doing the review, he said.

What would be covered is any discharge of a firearm by a police officer in an encounter, regardless of whether that resulted in death or injury to anyone. It also would include any intended use of deadly force that resulted in death or serious injury to someone else, whether the officer was on- or off-duty.

Bowers said there was a buy-in to the idea by all agencies involved.

“They all want to have citizen confidence in what they do,’’ he said. “It reaffirms public trust in law enforcement across the state.’’

But Sen. Raquel Teran, D-Phoenix, said she got a list of concerns and objections from the William E. Morris Institute for Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm that provides legal representation and legislative advocacy on behalf of low-income ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ns.

For example, she said, the institute wants to be sure community members have an avenue for “meaningful independent review’’ of instances where police use force.

Bowers, for his part, said nothing in the legislation precludes communities from establishing their own civilian review boards. Nor does it bar them doing their own investigations.

But this, he said, is separate.

Teran, however, said the institute also wants community involvement in how the new bureau would be set up, “with specific direction to include historically marginalized communities, including the disability community, communities of color, Indigenous communities and immigrant communities.’’

She said it also wants the involvement of “trained civil rights experts’’ in oversight of the new DPS bureau.

Bowers did not rule out any of that, but he said there has to be a starting point. “This doesn’t pretend to do everything all at once,’’ he said.

But the speaker said he’s unsure about having outside groups and interests actually involved in any probe by the DPS unit.

“One thing we wanted to preserve is the absolute professionalism of any investigation,’’ Bowers said. “I’m not familiar with someone being a civil rights-trained investigator. But I would certainly be open to understand that more — and if it could fit within a very tight professional investigation.’’

Rep. David Livingston, R-Peoria, pointed out that DPS already is short of officers and questioned where the agency would get the additional officers needed to do these investigations.

Gilbert Police Chief Mike Soelberg, who has coordinated much of the discussion that resulted in the legislation, sought to reassure lawmakers.

“Our goal is not to deplete DPS’ staff,’’ he said. Instead, Soelberg said, DPS would recruit from elsewhere, including retirees.

“We’ve got a lot of very experienced homicide investigators, violent crime investigators that are looking for that second career,’’ he said. “They would be eligible to participate in this.’’

The special unit even could be staffed from officers outside the state if they can get the required credentialing from the Police Officer Standards and Training Board, he said.

The legislation, which now goes to the full Senate, would provide $24.4 million to DPS to establish and maintain the new unit. It already cleared the House.