#WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) co-sponsored the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, the first-ever bold, comprehensive approach to hold police accountable, change the culture of law enforcement and build trust between law enforcement and our communities, introduced by U.S. Senators Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Karen Bass (D-CA) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).
“This sweeping, far-reaching reform in police practices and training is long overdue. Revamping police training, new methods for screening prospective officers, eliminating chokeholds as a practice, and imposing individual accountability to officers who break the law are among the necessary changes offered in this impactful legislation,” said Blumenthal. “We need both Republicans and Democrats to come together to support this legislation, which should have been done years ago. As we listen to the national calls for racial justice it is time that we seize this moment to implement real, comprehensive change.”
“The policing reforms introduced this week are bold and comprehensive, and they shouldn’t be controversial. Black Americans are simply asking for the same basic rights and due process when it comes to policing as every other American,” said Murphy. “Nothing in this act will make it harder for a good cop to do their job. All we are asking for here is true accountability for the minority of officers who abuse their power and single out people of color for abuse and harassment.”
The Justice in Policing Act of 2020:
- Prohibits federal, state, and local law enforcement from racial, religious and discriminatory profiling, and mandates training on racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling for all law enforcement.
- Bans chokeholds, carotid holds and no-knock warrants at the federal level and limits the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement.
- Mandates the use of dashboard cameras and body cameras for federal offices and requires state and local law enforcement to use existing federal funds to ensure the use of police body cameras.
- Establishes a National Police Misconduct Registry to prevent problematic officers who are fired or leave on agency from moving to another jurisdiction without any accountability.
- Amends federal criminal statute from “willfulness” to a “recklessness” standard to successfully identify and prosecute police misconduct.
- Reforms qualified immunity so that individuals are not barred from recovering damages when police violate their constitutional rights.
- Establishes public safety innovation grants for community-based organizations to create local commissions and task forces to help communities to re-imagine and develop concrete, just and equitable public safety approaches.
- Creates law enforcement development and training programs to develop best practices and requires the creation of law enforcement accreditation standard recommendations based on President Obama’s Taskforce on 21st Century policing.
- Requires state and local law enforcement agencies to report use of force data, disaggregated by race, sex, disability, religion, age.
- 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.
- Establishes a Department of Justice task force to coordinate the investigation, prosecution and enforcement efforts of federal, state and local governments in cases related to law enforcement misconduct.
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