Breaking down Trump’s balancing act
Prez pursues police reform while ignoring racism, bias
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a narrow executive order on police reform, an action unthinkable a month ago, coming as protests grow across the nation against police use of excessive force.
Trump’s action followed a shift of public opinion when it comes to intolerance of race-based policing as the Black Lives Matter movement mainstreamed after the death of George Floyd.
Floyd died when he was pinned down by a Minneapolis police officer with a knee to his neck on May 25; the 8-minute, 46 second incident was captured on video. On Friday, an Atlanta police officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks from the back in an incident that started as a sobriety check. Both men were African Americans.
“Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals; they are not mutually exclusive. They work together,” Trump said in a Rose Garden speech.
Let’s break down what Trump did Tuesday (and what he did not do), other police reform efforts in Congress right now and policing issues emerging in the presidential campaign:
TRUMP MET WITH THE FAMILY OF JEMEL ROBERSON, OTHERS: Before his Rose Garden speech, Trump met with families whose relatives were killed by police, including the family of Jemel Roberson.
Roberson, a Black security guard in south suburban Robbins, was killed by a white Midlothian police officer in November 2018. The families did not join Trump in the Rose Garden.
TRUMP’S BALANCING ACT: Trump wants to keep the image as the law-and-order, pro-police president as he sends tweets accusing Democrats of being soft on crime. He said in his speech, “I strongly oppose the radical and dangerous efforts to defund, dismantle and dissolve our police departments.”
TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER: The Justice Department will be able to use discretionary funds for grants; supposed incentives for local police departments to meet new standards. Here are some highlights from Trump’s order:
◆ A ban on chokeholds, except when deadly force is necessary. Chicago banned chokeholds for routine takedowns last February.
◆ The creation of a national database to track cops with a history of using excessive force or who have been successfully sued for use of improper force.
◆ More mental health services.
◆ Encouragement to work with Congress “to improve law enforcement practices and build community engagement.”
WHAT TRUMP DID NOT ADDRESS: Racial profiling; systemic racism; bias; the history of lack of trust between police departments and communities of color; why his Justice Department has not pursued police department consent decrees.
CONGRESS, DEMOCRATS: On June 8, Democrats introduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, a sweeping bill of about 134
pages. The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday will debate the legislation “to hold police accountable, end racial profiling, change the culture of law enforcement and empower our communities.”
CONGRESS, REPUBLICANS: Congress may send Trump some police reform legislation now that the president is taking his foot off the brake. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the only Black Senate Republican, is working on a policing bill. This could set the stage for negotiations with Democrats. On Sunday’s “Face the Nation,” Scott said, “I think we’re going to have legislation that can be negotiated that gets us to the place where something becomes law that actually makes a difference. That’s got to be our goal.”
TRUMP’S CHICAGO MENTION: “In many cases, local law enforcement is underfunded, understaffed and under supported. Forty-seven percent of all murders in Chicago and 68% of all murders in Baltimore went without arrests last year.”
TRUMP WRONG: OBAMA/ BIDEN DID PURSUE POLICE REFORM: Does anyone vet Trump’s speeches? Trump said, “President Obama and Vice President Biden never even tried to fix this during their eight-year period. The reason they didn’t try is because they had no idea how to do it. And it is a complex situation.”
What is true is that Obama, the nation’s first Black president, left office with police brutality still an issue. He did tackle it on multiple fronts, including with his “Task Force on 21st Century Policing” and other Justice Department programs. The final task force report was 116 pages and filled with recommendations.
BIDEN’S PUSHBACK: Policing is now part of the presidential campaign. Biden Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said in a statement Trump had to know what he said about Obama and Biden was not true because he’s spent years “tearing down the very reforms the Obama-Biden administration pursued.”