El Paso County preparing for changes with police reform bill

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A sweeping police reform bill for Colorado now awaits final approval from the Governor and an El Paso County commissioner says there is no way the county can get around it.

County Commissioner Mark Waller says Senate Bill 217 which would prevent officers from using chokeholds and get rid of qualified immunity would be, "incredibly horrible for us."

Waller says he has spoken to county law enforcement agencies about the bill and even with the changes, they are not for it.

While El Paso County can't put forth a variance to not implement the legislation, Waller did say that following the new regulations isn't up to law enforcement agencies, themselves, like in the case of the state's Red Flag law.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office declined to comment on the bill Monday, saying that it still needed to examine the final text before weighing in. Sheriff Bill Elder has expressed support for more accountability in the past. The sheriff's office clarified Tuesday that Elder never intended to not enforce the police accountability bill when it's signed into law.

But there is one thing the county cannot control and that's lawsuits filed against officers for using excessive force as outlined in the reform bill.

"There's nothing that can be done about it," Waller says.

Waller says he and other commissioners may write a letter or a resolution to Governor Jared Polis before he signs the bill that will express the county's concerns. However, Waller doesn't believe it will have any impact on the bill, "Will [Polis] listen to us? Of course not,  he never does."

Gov. Jared Polis briefly addressed the bill during his press conference on Monday, saying, "Republicans and Democrats responded to the call of the moment to reform policing in our communities and help rebuild the trust between law enforcement and our communities."

Polis is expected to sign the bill.