Republicans introduced their police reform legislation on Wednesday. The Just and Unifying Solutions to Invigorate Communities Everywhere (JUSTICE) Act aims to focus on long-term solutions for police accountability and transparency, while addressing short-term issues specific to rebuilding trust in minority communities.
Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) held a press conference to introduce the JUSTICE Act.
“We believe that our policy positions are one that brings the communities of color into a position of stronger, understanding, and confidence in the institutions of the authority. And we believe that it brings our law enforcement community to a place where they have the resources necessary to de-escalate some of these situations,” said Scott.
The JUSTICE Act seeks to reform the law enforcement system by holding police departments accountable for the use of force and increasing transparency by making past disciplinary records available.
In the short-term, the bill would end the use of chokeholds while in the long-term it would bolster, by increasing funding, training, and tactics, particularly in the area of de-escalation of force and the responsibility of officers to intervene in such cases.
The legislation would ensure that when a police candidate was being hired for a new position, the department looking to hire could access prior disciplinary records.
Another key component of the bill is the mandated use of body cameras and the storage and use of data from that body camera footage.
The bill would also require that 100 percent of police departments submit to the FBI, their department’s use of deadly force, and their use of no-knock warrants. Scott said at present only about 40 percent of departments collect this type of data.
Under the JUSTICE Act, lynching would become a federal crime and the legislation would create “two commissions to study and offer solutions to a broader range of challenges facing black men and boys, and the criminal justice system as a whole.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Twitter that “[t]he Senate GOP bill’s silent on racial profiling, no reforms to qualified immunity, no real accountability.”
From The Epoch Times
