Democrats' new proposal seeks to encouraging police departments and agencies to adopt new training standards
George Floyd Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act
PEOPLE INTRODUCING IT:
-Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas)
-Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota)
-Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colorado)
-House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY)
WHAT IT INTRODUCES:
-Every state, local, federal law enforcement agency needs to provide data to the Department of Justice on the use of deadly force by and against police officers + data on traffic and pedestrian stops
-Make funding grants available to police agencies studying and creating new recruitment, hiring + oversight programs
-allocates $28 million to enforce federal civil rights statutes
-Require the Justice Department to establish a task force to coordinate efforts to investigate and prosecute cases of law enforcement misconduct
There are currently 70 cosponsors of this bill, but none of them are Republicans.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
Email/Call/Tweet @/Write to your representatives. Tell them they need to sign on to this bill for justice to take place in America. Tell them that not signing this bill will cause you to question their capability as a political representative and that you will actively be discouraging others from voting for them in the next election. PUT. THEIR. JOBS. ON. THE. LINE.
SOURCES/RESOURCES:
ABC News:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/house-democrats-introduce-policing-reform-bill-named-george/story%3fid=71069101
Colorado Public Radio:
https://www.cpr.org/2020/06/04/congress-is-eyeing-legislative-solutions-to-police-brutality-including-jason-crow/
Find and Track Your Goverment Officials:
https://www.govtrack.us/
Add more if you see them! There are many other bills also being introduced right now to combat for police reform, please add them on as well.
!!!IMPORTANT NEW ADDITION!!!
https://omar.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-ilhan-omar-announces-slate-bills-address-george-floyd-murder-government
Representative Ilhan Omar, who has already been supporting this act, has also introduced 4 new bills on June 3rd, 2020. They come in a package. Here are the bills and what they do.
National Police Misuse of Force Investigation Board Act (co-lead by Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee)
-Establish a federal agency responsible for investigating all nationwide deaths occurring in police custody, officer-involved shootings and uses of force that result in severe bodily injury
-Agency will conduct unbiased, independent investigations and issue determinations of responsibility and recommendations for reform that will prevent future violence
-These findings will be admissible in court and federal funding for law enforcement activities
-Equipment will be curtailed if a police department fails to take meaningful action on the Board’s policy and reform recommendations
Bill to Criminalize Police Violence Against Protesters
-Any officer who kills or causes bodily harm to a civilian while responding to a protest will be charged with a federal crime
Amending the Insurrection Act (co-lead by CPC Co-Chairs Rep. Mark Pocan and Rep. Pramila Jayapal)
-Legislation will amend the Insurrection Act
-Curtails Trump’s ability to deploy the military domestically without Congressional consent
-Prevents the President from having unilateral power to declare protesters a threat to society and deploying troops against American citizens for no reason other than to enforce his personal principles
Federal Relief Fund
-Legislation will create an Emergency Relief Fund specifically for communities trying to rebuild after social and civil rights crises
-Cities and businesses can apply to the fund for grants to get them back on their feet
SOURCES:
Tracker for Ilhan Omar’s Bills https://www.congress.gov/member/ilhan-omar/O000173?searchResultViewType=expanded&KWICView=false
Please Find and Contact Your Representatives. Also see what bills they are sponsoring and not sponsoring. https://www.govtrack.us/
Ilhan Omar’s Website Describing the Bills. Full Legislative Text Will Be Released Soon. https://omar.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-ilhan-omar-announces-slate-bills-address-george-floyd-murder-government
I question the proposal to offer grants to police agencies for trying new recruitment, hiring and oversight programs. I think the language of “reform” has been contextualized as one of compromise, in contrast to defund and abolish.
op brings up an excellent point on how you should voice your demands to your representative
Thank you for explaining this to me and spreading awareness @thenandnowandthen
to add:
Ending Qualified Immunity Act introduced by Ayanna Pressley and Justin Amash
https://pressley.house.gov/sites/pressley.house.gov/files/Ending%20Qualified%20Immunity%20Act_0.pdf
Cory Booker’s Justice in Policing Act of 2020
https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/06/07/871713872/cory-booker-wants-to-end-qualified-immunity-for-police-officers?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=politics
Upcoming proposals to limit transfer of surplus military equipment to police
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/us/politics/police-military-gear.html
Please contact your representative and demand justice! We are making long-awaited headway in this movement, but this is far from the end!
