Chokeholds, Qualified Immunity And Databases: A Look At How Proposed Policing Bills Differ
While the Republican legislation is one of the most ambitious policing efforts the party has produced in years, it still falls far short of the Democrats' proposed reforms. Congressional leaders scheduled tentative votes for next week.
The Associated Press:
A Look At Dueling Policing Proposals Considered By Congress
As Americans protest racial inequality and the death of George Floyd and others at the hands of police, their pleas are being heard in the chambers of the U.S. Capitol. Both Democrats and Republicans have introduced legislation to reform policing in America, but they diverge on some issues. The far-reaching legislative proposal from Democrats, the Justice in Policing Act, would limit legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force encounters and ban police chokeholds, among other changes. (Balsamo, 6/18)
The Washington Post:
House Panel Approves Expansive Policing Bill To Ban Chokeholds And Make It Easier To Prosecute Officers For Misconduct
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have tentatively scheduled votes on their respective proposals late next week, at which point the two sides could begin the first substantive bipartisan talks on racial justice since George Floyd’s Memorial Day death at the hands of Minneapolis police. (Kane, Kim and Wagner, 6/17)
Politico:
House Judiciary Panel Advances Police Reform Bill After Emotional Debate
After nearly 12 hours of tense debate, the committee approved the bill along party lines with all Republicans voting in opposition. The Democrats’ plan, which will go to the House floor next week, would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, limit officers’ immunity from prosecution and establish a national database of police misconduct. (Ferris, Cheney, Caygle and Bresnahan, 6/17)
The Associated Press:
AP-NORC Poll: Sweeping Change In US Views Of Police Violence
A dramatic shift has taken place in the nation’s opinions on policing and race, as a new poll finds that more Americans today than five years ago believe police brutality is a very serious problem that too often goes undisciplined and unequally targets black Americans. The new findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggest the death of George Floyd and the weeks of nationwide and global protests that followed have changed perceptions in ways that previous incidents of police brutality did not. (Stafford and Fingerhut, 6/18)
Politico:
Antifa, Big Tech, And Abortion: Republicans Bring Culture War To Police Brutality Debate
The House Judiciary Committee late Wednesday approved a major police reform bill on a party-line vote, the first step by Congress to address a crisis that has roiled the country since George Floyd died in police custody on May 25. Yet for much of the day, the panel was ensnared in acrimonious cultural and political quarrels that had little to do with the underlying issue of police brutality, which the legislation is supposed to address. (Bresnahan and Ferris, 6/17)
In other new on police tactics and violence —
Reuters:
Atlanta Police Officer Charged With Murder In Shooting Death Of Rayshard Brooks
The death of Brooks - the latest in a long line of unarmed African Americans whose fatal encounters with law enforcement have been documented on video - further heightened U.S. social tensions at a time of national soul-searching over police brutality and racism in the criminal justice system. An Atlanta police officer was charged on Wednesday with murder for the shooting death last week of Rayshard Brooks in a fast-food parking lot, while a fellow officer facing lesser charges has agreed to testify against his colleague. (McKay and Layne, 6/17)
The New York Times:
De Blasio, Pressured On Policing, Acts To Toughen Discipline
Under immense pressure to overhaul Police Department tactics and curb the department’s authority, Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday announced a series of significant changes in the way the nation’s largest police force will discipline its officers. The changes include the creation of a database next month that will track the roughly 1,100 pending cases involving allegations of police abuse and will include the officers’ names and the charges. The city will also publish all internal trial decisions and eventually make all disciplinary records, past and present, accessible online. (Rubinstein, 6/17)
The New York Times:
N.Y. Protesters Say The Police Attacked Them: 'It Felt Like Warfare'
One protester said a police officer used a baton to pin him by his neck against a squad car. Another said she was tackled by an officer who then drove his knee into her back so hard she could not breathe. A third — a registered nurse — was tending to a young man with a head wound, but claimed the police would not allow an ambulance to drive through a crowd to fetch him. A fourth described rushing through a line of police with batons to help a sobbing teenage girl, then escaping with her just before an officer tried to grab them. (Feuer, 6/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Sheriff's Deputies Fatally Shoot Rosamond Man At Home
The half brother of Robert Fuller, a young Black man who was found hanging from a tree in Palmdale last week, was shot dead by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies during a shootout Wednesday afternoon in Kern County, according to law enforcement sources and an attorney for the family. The shooting occurred about 4:30 p.m. in a parking lot in Rosamond, a community about 20 miles north of Palmdale. The killing came as activists and community members have been openly critical of how Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies handled the investigation into Fuller’s death. (Ormseth, Winton, Hamilton and Lau, 6/17)
ABC News:
New York City Mom Plans $10 Million Lawsuit Against Police After Arrest For Improperly Wearing Face Mask
A New York City mom who believes she was wrongfully arrested for not properly wearing a face mask while on the subway platform, intends to file a $10 million notice of claim against the city for excessive force, her attorney says. Kaleemah Rozier, 22, said she was on her way home with her 5-year-old son inside the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station in Brooklyn on May 13 when she was approached by several unidentified NYPD officers. (Carrega, 6/17)
