Priorities for Constructive Change in Policing
Last week, I spoke to the hurt and anger many are feeling, and encouraged us all to direct our sense of despair toward constructive change, including accountability for public officials and policy reforms.
That began last week, when the Minnesota Attorney General brought charges against all the officers involved in the death of George Floyd. It continues as North Carolina law enforcement agencies review their own use of force policies. These are only the beginning steps toward justice.
We know the excessive use of force, carried out by those whose job it is to keep communities safe, is all too familiar to Black Americans. These violations of civil and Constitutional rights, and the racial injustices that have led us to this moment, demand our attention now more than ever.
For how we move forward, I draw inspiration from President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, my time working with advocacy groups and law enforcement leaders as Vice Chairman of the Governor’s Crime Commission, and my years of service as a prosecutor and in military service. Based on that framework and experience, I’m focused on a number of core principles and proposals around which I believe we can find bipartisan support, and bring together the voices of our communities with reformers in law enforcement.
We cannot let this moment pass. We need to take action right now.
I support the following priorities:
Building a 21st century law enforcement profession that is held to the highest standards of training and professionalism.
Congress should create a new 21st century policing grant program, or update current programs, administered through the U.S. Department of Justice, to which the 18,000 law enforcement agencies can apply. Increased grant funding will incentivize departments across the country to update use of force policies. I’d support using the International Association of Police Chiefs’ consensus policy document on use of force as a starting point, amended with input from local communities. These policies must counsel de-escalation, prohibit chokeholds, limit no-knock warrants, and specifically address the use of deadly force, while making sure law enforcement preserves its right to proportional self-defense. Grant funding could also be used by departments to achieve accreditation, like through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, which would help set the highest standard for professionalism within the department.
This funding would be contingent on a number of additional best practices:
- Providing training to address racial and religious profiling issues.
- Using funds to supplement state and local support for use of body and dashboard cameras.
- Reporting use of force incidents to the U.S. Department of Justice and the public.
Embracing community policing and taking steps to give communities a meaningful role in accountability.
Law enforcement must be guardians in our communities, not warriors against our own people. The grant funding outlined above must also address improvements in community policing so that law enforcement knows the communities in which it operates, and the community knows these law enforcement guardians in its neighborhoods.
We can reduce crime, make communities safer, and improve outcomes by increasing non-enforcement interaction between citizens and police officers, not as extra activities but as a core part of law enforcement’s mission — whether that is achieved by holding town hall meetings that give community members access to their police force, having police participate in community-wide events, or having police mentor youth. We should not judge law enforcement’s success by the number of tickets and arrests, but by the security and comfort the community feels in the public square. This can only happen when trust and legitimacy is built between police and those they serve. Police officers of, and in, their home communities know those communities best and understand their needs.
Best law enforcement practices must also include police advisory boards, created with the purpose of building trust in the community, with the ability to serve a real role in developing law enforcement policies and holding officers accountable when they don’t act according to those policies. This means giving communities the option to empower these citizen oversight committees to investigate and subpoena witnesses and documents when there are credible allegations of police misconduct.
Limiting qualified immunity and making it easier for those whose rights have been violated to hold bad actors accountable.
It’s clear that the laws intended to allow victims to have their cases heard — including our civil rights laws, our criminal laws and our civil justice laws — too often have the opposite effect. These laws are clearly rooted in a false assumption that those in power can do no wrong. We should limit qualified immunity and change the standard for bringing cases against officers who violate victims’ civil and Constitutional rights. When law enforcement violates departmental policies or operates outside of its certified training, it should not be insulated from liability to the victims of these breaches.
Investing in our communities.
We need to hold accountable anyone who has misused power, and put that power to work for the common good. That includes, but goes beyond, police reform.
Twenty-first century policing reform will require increased investment in law enforcement, not defunding it. The increased calls on law enforcement to respond to substance abuse and mental health issues in their communities have added pressure on law enforcement and highlight the need to also invest in our health system and social services. Critical to that effort is expanding Medicaid in North Carolina, which many law enforcement leaders across our state support.
In addition, we will never address the race-based, systemic barriers to health care, equal housing, and education without investing in underserved communities.
Those barriers have put Black Americans, and North Carolinians, at higher risk for COVID-19. It is clearer than ever that we should tackle these disparities head on. I applaud Governor Cooper’s new Task Force to address long-term racial disparities and I support similar efforts at the national level, including closing health care gaps, giving minority-owned businesses access to capital, and eliminating housing discrimination.
Originally published at https://medium.com on June 11, 2020.
