Biden police reform pledge faces limits of presidential power

Nearly a year after President Joe Biden called for “real action” on police brutality as part of a pledge to fix U.S. racial inequality, he is coming up against the limits of presidential power. The White House shelved a proposed police oversight commission this week to focus on a police reform bill that has narrow hopes in Congress. The move comes as anger grows over the killing of another Black man, Daunte Wright, who was stopped by police just miles from where George Floyd was killed last May. Though Democrats, Republicans, police unions and civil rights activists agree that U.S. policing must change, there still appears to be no immediate path to broad national reform, activists say. “It kind of feels as if we’re stuck,” said DeAnna Hoskins, a former Justice Department policy adviser and now president of JustLeadershipUSA, an advocacy group. “The good intentions are there, but we also know good intentions pave the road to hell.” The U.S. has a far higher rate of police killing of civilians than other wealthy countries, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. Black men are more than twice as likely to die in police custody than white men, a 2018 study here showed. GEORGE FLOYD ACT: The Biden White House’s strategy is to put its weight behind a broad reform bill known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, while revamping the Justice Department, which holds the administration’s most tangible power over police departments. However the bill, which passed the House of Representatives in March, is being fought by police unions and Republicans. Both support some reforms, including restricting police chokeholds and deploying body cameras, but oppose limiting “qualified immunity,” which shields officers accused of crimes from lawsuits. The Fraternal Order of Police labor group has discussed police reform with Biden administration officials, but has not indicated support for the bill, said spokeswoman Jessica Cahill. “We will reserve our comments for internal discussions with legislators,” while the bill is still being negotiated, she said.