Figure 1.Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest, May 2020. Source: Unsplash.
On 3 March, 2021, the US House of Representatives approved a bill aimed at preventing police misconduct in order to hold officers accountable when constitutional rights are violated. Additional measures were introduced to support local law enforcement by fostering community policing improvements, especially for minority neighbourhoods. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021, which received a 220-212 vote in the house, was named in honour of the late George Floyd, whose death in police custody sparked nationwide calls to overhaul policing tactics and address racial injustice.
Background
George Perry Floyd Jr was an African American man, killed at the age of 46 during an arrest by one of the four police officers who arrived at the scene. According to a transcript released by the authorities, the store clerk alleged that Floyd had used a counterfeit $20 bill upon purchasing a cigarette pack. Surveillance footage from a nearby restaurant showed police arriving shortly and approached Floyd, who was sitting down. Floyd did not demonstrate behaviour suggestive of an individual resisting arrest; however, moments later was found to be pinned down by the Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, a white cop who pressed his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck while he was positioned face-down in handcuffs for a period initially reported to be 8 minutes and 46 seconds. His death caused national and international outrage against police brutality, specifically violence towards black people. Global tributes were organised in his memory, with companies and communities standing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
Figure 2. How does the new bill reform the police? Source: Unsplash.
The bill facilitates federal enforcement of constitutional violations by state and local law enforcement. Among other things, it does the following:
1. Prohibition of Racial Profiling
a. Prohibits federal, state, and local law enforcement from racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling.
b. Mandates training on racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling for all law enforcement.
c. Requires law enforcement to collect data on all investigatory activities.
2. Banning Chokeholds & No-Knock Warrants
a. Bans chokeholds, carotid holds and no-knock warrants in drug cases at the federal level and conditions law enforcement funding for state and local governments banning chokeholds.
b. Requires that deadly force be used only as a last resort and requires officers to employ de-escalation techniques [1] first.
c. Changes the standard to evaluate whether law enforcement use of force was justified from whether the force was “reasonable” to whether the force was “necessary.”
d. Limits the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement.
3. Limit Military Equipment on American Streets & Requires Body Cameras
a. Requires federal uniformed police officers to wear body cameras and requires state and local law enforcement to use existing federal funds to ensure the use of police body cameras.
b. Requires marked federal police vehicles to have dashboard cameras.
Figure 3. If your life matters, why didn't his? Source: Unsplash.
4. Investigate Police Misconduct
a. Improves the use of pattern and practice investigations at the federal level by granting the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division subpoena power and creates a grant program for state attorneys general to develop authority to conduct independent investigations into problematic police departments.
b. Makes it easier to prosecute offending officers by amending the federal criminal statute to prosecute police misconduct. The mens rea requirement in Title 18 US Code Section 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law) will be amended from “wilfulness” to a “recklessness” standard.
c. Enables individuals to recover damages in civil court when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights by eliminating qualified immunity for law enforcement.
5. Improve Transparency by Collecting Data on Police Misconduct and Use-of-Force
Creates a nationwide police misconduct registry to prevent problematic officers who are fired or leave one agency and move to another jurisdiction without any accountability.
Mandates state and local law enforcement agencies to report the use of force data, disaggregated by race, sex, disability, religion, age.
6. Change the Culture of Law Enforcement with Training to Build Integrity and Trust
a. Follows recommendations based on President Obama’s Taskforce on 21st Century policing [2] for the creation of law enforcement accreditation standards.
b. Creates law enforcement development and training programs to develop best practices.
c. Establishes a Department of Justice (DOJ) task force to coordinate the investigation, prosecution, and enforcement efforts of federal, state, and local governments in law enforcement misconduct cases.
Support and Opposition
Several civil rights groups have shown support for this legislation, including, but not restricted to, American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and National Action Network. Those supporting the bill believe that it is a step towards better protecting people, but also making sure that the police is held accountable when committing crimes.
In contrast, police unions criticize the bill, arguing that abolishing qualified immunity for police officers, as presented in SEC. 102. QUALIFIED IMMUNITY REFORM, will leave them vulnerable against false accusations. Additionally, they are opposed to SEC. 118. FEDERAL DATA COLLECTION ON LAW ENFORCE-MENT PRACTICES, which they say could endanger officers upon entering houses of people with guns.
Figure 4. Capitol Building, Washington D.C., USA. Source: Unsplash.
Current Developments
After alarming information was gathered by the US Capitol Police, the law enforcement agency was bracing for potential attacks against members of Congress and the Capitol building. In the days following the passing of the bill, manpower was increased and several security updates were made.
The Minneapolis Police Officer involved in the George Floyd case, Derek Chauvin’s trial began on 8 March, 2021 and is ongoing. On 29 March, 2021, the prosecution and the defence will present their opening statements. Chauvin is facing second degree unintentional murder, third degree murder and second degree manslaughter. He is being tried separately from the other three police officers, involved in Floyd’s death, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, after legal experts believed that, in case of a joint trial, the officers would attempt to frame Chauvin.
[1] The term “de-escalation tactics and techniques” means proactive actions and approaches used by a Federal law enforcement officer to stabilise the situation so that more time, options, and resources are available to gain a person’s voluntary compliance and reduce or eliminate the need to use force.
[2] On 18 December, 2014, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The Task Force seeks to identify the best practices and make recommendations to the President on how policing practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust and examine, among other issues, how to foster strong, collaborative relationships between local law enforcement and the communities they protect.
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