The House aims to pass a Democratic police reform bill Thursday, as Congress struggles to find a common-ground on how to respond to overwhelming public demand.
What We Know:
- Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would introduce steps to police reform. The bill was to include, federal funding for police departments, banning chokeholds under certain circumstances, and requiring data on police misconduct.
- Many activist claimed the bill did not meet their full requirements, including the outright ban of chokeholds, digressing the use of unauthorized force and weaponry, reforming ‘qualified immunity’, and addressing the misuse of body cameras.
- On Wednesday, House Democrats blocked the Republicans plan with 43 votes. Senator of South Carolina Tim Scott voiced his disappointment with the turnout. “Today, we lost- I lost- a vote on a piece of legislation that would have led to systematic change in the relationship between the communities of color and the law enforcement community.”
- Democratic House members said the vote turnout was due to the bill not going far enough to root out systemic racism and violence in policing. “The actual problem is not WHAT is being offered, it is WHO is offering it” Scott said.
- According to CNBC the House plans to include measures that are likely to be blocked by Republicans. Those measures include making it easier for victims of abuse to sue police and for officials to fire and prosecute officers. It would outright ban chokeholds and “no-knock” search warrants at the federal level, and tie funding to state and local governments to them barring those tactics. It would also require bias training and more data sharing about police use of force.
- While the Democrats and Republicans continue to argue with each other, activists and protestors claim that the Democrat’s are also not meeting the standards they have for police reform. Demonstrators have called for governments to cut at least some funding from police departments and redirect it to social services to address inequities in the job market, education, and health care.
- Democrats argued the chamber should form a bipartisan group to come up with a compromise plan. So far, the Senate has not committed to doing so, and there has still been minimal movement from Congress.
While the House legislation still have not come to a mutual agreement, officials say the conversation is the first step toward a new vision of policing.
