Democrats Introduce Policing Reform Package with Provisions Impacting Federal Law Enforcement
Congressional Democrats introduced a legislative package this week to address policing issues as law enforcement accountability makes national headlines. The 135-page package entitled the Justice in Policing Act includes a host of changes to federal and state law enforcement practices and increases federal oversight over state and local police departments.
Included in the bill are provisions:
Requiring all uniformed federal law enforcement officers to wear body cameras;
Requiring use of de-escalation techniques;
Requiring use of deadly force only as a last resort;
Requiring all federal police vehicles to have dashboard cameras;
Tasking the Government Accountability Office with launching an investigation into federal officers’ training, vehicle pursuits, and use of force;
Banning use of chokeholds and similar tactics to restrain individuals they are detaining;
Requiring bias and duty to intervene training for all federal officers;
Banning use of “no-knock” warrants in federal drug cases; and,
Changing federal personnel’s use of force standard from when it is “reasonable” to when it is “necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury.”
“We are here today with common-sense solutions, at least at the federal level, to hold police accountable,” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who helped introduce the bill in the Senate, told GovExec.
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) President Larry Cosme noted several issues with provisions in the legislation to GovExec and said reform efforts would be more effective if stakeholders were engaged in drafting the legislation.
On the issue of body cameras, Cosme said he would support it for some officers but not agents in investigatory roles who deal with confidential informants. He suggested U.S. Capitol Police and the Interior Department’s Park Police begin using the cameras as a pilot. Cosme added FLEOA was “totally against” changes to the use of force standards for federal officers.
Joe Murphy, president of the American Federation of Government Employees council that represents Federal Protective Service officers at the Homeland Security Department, told GovExec he and the officers he represents are eager to use body cameras.
“I am in support of [officers] wearing them and our members have asked for them over the years,” Murphy said. “Some have even volunteered to pay for their own, [but] we are currently forbidden from wearing them or having one mounted in our patrol cars.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has also introduced a measure barring law enforcement from utilizing tear gas.
Republicans, led by Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, have announced plans to introduce their own policing reform measures.