By: Gary Grado | Arizona Capitol Times
Sign-toting protestors made noise opposing a bill giving police officers involved in shootings a two-month period of anonymity, but Gov. Doug Ducey listened most closely to the chiefs of police in deciding to veto it.
And the veto of SB1445 left a police union leader questioning Ducey’s support of front-line law enforcement, even though the governor’s father was a police officer.
The veto came after vocal opposition from the ACLU of Arizona and African American leaders, who arrived at Ducey’s office after a March 24 Senate vote on the bill to deliver a petition urging that he veto the legislation. Ducey held meetings with them in the hours leading up to his decision.
The governor wrote in his veto letter that, while he sympathized with the bill’s intent and he heard from all sides, the arguments against the bill from the chiefs of police tipped the scale.
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