Bill mandating police reforms spurred by Uvalde shooting sent to Abbott

AUSTIN – The Houston Chronicle reports three years after the Uvalde school shooting, the Texas Legislature is still trying to address multiple law enforcement failures that day that kept nearly 400 officers from rescuing children stuck in the classrooms with the killer for over an hour. Both the House and the Senate voted out a package of law enforcement reforms that include mandating more active school shooter training, joint training exercises among various law enforcement groups to provide better coordination, and equipment on school campuses that can breach a door in an emergency. Those were some of the biggest failures that law enforcement officials and elected officials identified after the May 24, 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School, where 19 children and two teachers were killed.

A report by the Texas House after the shooting showed police were hampered by poor interagency communities, improper tactics and delays as police looked for keys to a door they didn’t think they could breach. “We owe it to the 19 students and two teachers from Robb Elementary — and to every community across Texas — to make sure this never happens again,” said state Rep. Don McLaughlin, a Republican who was the mayor of Uvalde when the shooting occurred. McLaughlin’s HB 33 also requires each law enforcement agency to have a designated public information officer to make sure the public has clear information. McLaughlin said one of the difficulties after the shooting was false and misleading information being released that later had to be corrected. “In four days, the story changed five times,” McLaughlin said about the days after the shooting. “Nobody knew what was going on and we didn’t get straight answers.” McLaughlin’s bill was officially sent to Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday for his signature to make the changes law.