Tag Archives: Police Reforms

Biden administration drops plans for police oversight, citing George Floyd bill

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden’s administration is backing away from a campaign pledge to swiftly create a U.S. police oversight commission, a White House aide said, concluding that legislation would better address officers using excessive force.

Susan Rice, Biden’s domestic policy adviser, said in a statement that the administration believed a commission would not be the “most effective way to deliver on our top priority in this area” right now.

That priority is signing a bill that passed the House of Representatives in March, banning officers from using chokeholds and entering suspects’ homes without knocking, Rice said in response to questions about progress on police reforms.

That bill, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, is unlikely to win the 60 Senate votes it needs. Republicans oppose provisions in the bill eroding “qualified immunity” protections afforded officers in legal cases.

Biden promised to launch a national police oversight commission by his 100th day in office, at the end of April, following the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

Doing so, Biden said, would help “to ensure that our police protect and serve all members of their communities.”

The backtracking leaves the police reform issue in legislative limbo, along with a host of liberal priorities struggling to move through Congress, where Biden’s fellow Democrats hold slim majorities.

The White House, which consulted civil rights activists and police unions on the decision, heard that a commission could stall momentum for legislation and duplicate work done in prior administrations, an aide said.

In Minneapolis, prosecutors will rest their case this week in the trial of white policeman Derek Chauvin, who is accused of murdering Floyd. The trial, which the White House is monitoring, included eyewitness descriptions of Floyd, who is Black, dying as Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly 10 minutes.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons and Jonathan Oatis)

Black Lives Matter sues for court oversight of Chicago police reforms

FILE PHOTO: Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson arrives at a news conference in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo

By Chris Kenning

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Members of Black Lives Matter and other groups sued the city of Chicago on Wednesday, seeking to force federal court oversight of reforms to the police department, which has been accused of using excessive force against minorities.

The lawsuit, filed by civil rights attorneys in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois, came after Mayor Rahm Emanuel backed off a pledge to let a federal judge oversee reforms.

The lawsuit asks the court to ensure reforms will halt what it described as the ongoing use of excessive force, physical harassment and targeting of minority youth and a reliance on overly aggressive tactics by Chicago police.

“Chicago has proven time and time again that it is incapable of ending its own regime of terror, brutality and discriminatory policing,” the lawsuit said. “Absent federal court supervision, nothing will improve.”

In January, a federal investigation found Chicago police routinely violated the civil rights of people, citing excessive force and racially discriminatory conduct.

That followed protests sparked by the fall 2015 release of video showing a white police officer fatally shooting black teen Laquan McDonald a year earlier.

After the probe’s findings were released, Emanuel committed to a consent decree, a court-ordered reform agreement.

Earlier this month, he said Chicago was discussing an agreement with the Justice Department that would include an independent monitor instead of court oversight.

In an interview with Reuters, Emanuel said a consent decree with the Justice Department is not an option because Attorney General Jeff Sessions does not favor them to impose reform.

Chicago has pushed ahead with reforms including enacting new rules on use of force, provided two-thirds of the Chicago police force with body cameras and is hiring 1,000 new officers, Emanuel said.

Emanuel indicated he still has questions about the role of any outside monitor. “If you have an outside monitor, what are their authorities and their abilities?” he asked.

Edward Siskel, the city’s top lawyer, said on Wednesday that the larger need for reform was npt in question.

But the shift away from using court oversight drew criticism from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and activist groups. A plaintiffs’ attorney in Wednesday’s lawsuit said the city could enter a court-decree with the plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs include six individuals along with groups including Black Lives Matter Chicago and Blocks Together.

Kevin Graham, president of Chicago’s police union, in a statement objected to the lawsuit’s characterization of the department and said his offers are doing a phenomenal job in extremely dangerous circumstances.

(Additional reporting by David Greising; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Lisa Shumaker)

Nevada likely to become second state to require police body cameras

FILE PHOTO: A mannequin dressed as a police officer to show off a body camera system is shown on display at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in San Diego, California, U.S. on October 17, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

By Tom James

(Reuters) – Police officers in the state of Nevada may soon be required to wear body cameras under a measure that was sent on Thursday to Governor Brian Sandoval for his signature.

The proposal, approved by the state legislature, would make Nevada the second state in the in the country to mandate that state and local police use body cameras. North Carolina passed a similar requirement in 2015.

“Providing every officer with a body camera protects officers while they’re on the job and engenders trust among the public,” state Senator Aaron Ford, the bill’s sponsor, said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

The bill is the latest initiative by Nevada Democrats after voters in November gave them back legislative majorities they had held since 2009 but lost for the 2015-2016 term.

Earlier this month, lawmakers passed a bill banning sexual orientation or gender conversion therapy for minors, signed by Sandoval on Wednesday, and advanced two proposals that would be firsts in the United States: one would allow marijuana use in public establishments and another would set price controls on diabetes drugs.

The body camera requirement expands existing state rules, which require their use by the Nevada Highway Patrol, and mandates that the devices be turned on any time police investigate a crime or stop a citizen.

Holly Welborn, policy director for the Nevada branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that while the organization had opposed previous iterations of the rule over privacy and transparency concerns, it supported this year’s version after safeguards were strengthened.

A spokeswoman for Sandoval, Mari St. Martin, said it was Sandoval’s policy not to comment on pending legislation, but confirmed that he had approved the earlier requirement on the highway patrol without objection.

(Reporting by Tom James; Editing by Patrick Enright)