With executive order Trump undertakes reforms to the US police system

VOICE OF AMERICA

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday on some police reforms, saying it will encourage police departments to “adopt the highest professional standards to serve their communities.”

“We must improve accountability, increase transparency and invest more resources in police training, recruiting and community engagement,” Trump said at the White House Rose Garden.

A White House statement said “This historic Executive Order provides law enforcement agencies around the country with the necessary resources to implement best practices and protect the communities they serve by providing incentives to utilize a new nationwide database to track terminations, criminal convictions, and civil judgments against law enforcement officers for excessive use-of-force.”

“In addition, the Executive Order prioritizes training and other programs for police and social workers responding to incidents involving the mentally ill, addicted, and homeless” the statement added.

It won’t be the only reform

More sweeping overhauls to the nation’s policing are under consideration in Congress.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the issue Tuesday with testimony from law enforcement and civil rights officials.

The chamber’s Republican majority is crafting its package of proposals, which includes a ban on chokeholds and increased used of police body cameras.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the legislation “a serious proposal to reform law enforcement.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Republican effort does not go far enough, and that “now is the time to seek bold and broad-scale change.”

The Democrat-led House of Representatives is expected to vote sometime this month on its own package that includes a provision that would make it easier to file civil lawsuits against officers who violate someone’s rights.

The White House has signaled President Donald Trump would not endorse ending what is known as the qualified immunity doctrine.
Proposals for police reforms come after three weeks of nationwide protests renewed by the death in police custody of George Floyd, an African American man who died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

The Floyd effect

Floyd’s was the latest case to spark outrage at the use of force by police, especially against African Americans. Last Friday brought another with police shooting dead Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta.

Protesters, organized by civil rights groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), gathered outside the Georgia Capitol where lawmakers were returning to work after a coronavirus shutdown. More than a thousand demonstrators demanded lawmakers take up criminal justice reform, as well as voting issues, after last week’s election was marred by long lines at the polls.

A few protesters came inside the Capitol, chanting in the building’s rotunda.

Several Democratic state lawmakers, who are in the minority in the Georgia House and Senate, joined the protest Monday and said they are ready to act on calls for reforms. Republican House Speaker David Ralston told lawmakers Monday he wants to pass a bill to further penalize hate crimes, saying its passage is “just as important” as passing a state budget. The House has previously passed a hate crimes bill, but it has stalled in the Senate.

Many Democrats are proposing an array of new legislation to reform policing practices, however Republicans, as well as some Democrats, say there is not enough time to pass a big legislative package with only 11 days remaining in the lawmakers’ session following a lengthy coronavirus shutdown.

Demonstrations also took place Monday evening in Washington’s Lafayette Park across the street from the White House to mark two weeks since law enforcement forcefully cleared a peaceful crowd shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump walked through the area for a photo opportunity at a nearby church.

Also Monday, the U.N. Human Rights Council agreed to hold an urgent debate on Wednesday “on the current racially inspired human rights violations, systematic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protesters.”