Last week, President
Trump announced an Executive Order on Safe Policing for Safe
Communities in response to national calls for law
enforcement reform. The president’s Executive Order falls
woefully short of the long overdue demands for
accountability and transparency in our police departments.
During the announcement,
the president claimed the Executive Order would set
standards "as high and as strong as there is on Earth" on
the use of force, and that he would prioritize federal
grants to police departments that met those standards, yet
this order excludes a ban on chokeholds, which killed Eric
Gardner and George Floyd.
Last Monday, the House
and Senate Democrats led by the Congressional Black Caucus
unveiled the Justice in Policing Act, renamed the George
Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This bill is the first-ever
bold, comprehensive approach to hold police accountable,
change the culture of law enforcement and build trust
between law enforcement and our communities.
The Justice in Policing
Act is calling for real reform including banning chokeholds,
banning the no knock warrant, limiting the transfer of
military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement,
requiring body cameras, reinvesting in our communities by
supporting critical community-based programs to change the
culture of law enforcement and empowering our communities,
makes lynching a federal crime, and creates a nationwide
police misconduct registry to prevent problematic officers
who are fired or leave one agency, from moving to another
jurisdiction without any accountability and much more. These
are just some of the provisions of the new bill.
For perspective, if the
Justice in Policing Act had been law last year Breonna
Taylor would not have been shot to death in her sleep
because no-knock warrants for drug offenses would have been
illegal. This May, Tamir Rice would have graduated from High
School because the officer who killed him would not have
been working as a police officer because he was previously
listed in the national registry for misconduct. President
Trump’s Executive Order calls for none of this. We need
proactive solutions such as the Justice in Policing Act and
not timid responses to a national crisis.
President Trump continues
to dismiss the needs of Black America and the importance of
effectively dismantling institutions of systemic racism. To
him, it doesn’t exist. COVID-19 continues to severely impact
Black America and when the CBC demanded for the racial data
on coronavirus cases, the Trump Administration refused to
release the comprehensive data. He chose Tulsa, Oklahoma,
the city where the worst act of racial violence was
committed when Black Wall Street was burned down by white
supremacists, as the location to kick off his re-election
campaign rally. Black Wall Street in Tulsa was a thriving
and established Black community that consisted of Black
owned businesses and over 1,200 homes occupied by Black
families. The rally was also originally scheduled for
Juneteenth - the day African Americans celebrate
emancipation. President Trump only decided to change the
date of his rally to the 20th after extensive backlash.
At a time when
communities across the world are joining the American people
in solidarity to call for change, President Trump has opted
for fake reforms that will not change anything. America
needs the Justice in Policing Act because it calls for real
reform and will ensure police officers are held accountable.
It also provides an opportunity to reimagine what just and
equitable policing looks like and begin the process of
rebuilding.