Lodi News-Sentinel

Dems plan targets police racial profiling, use of force

- By Lindsey McPherson

WASHINGTON — House and Senate Democrats, led by the Congressio­nal Black Caucus, will announce a legislativ­e initiative Monday to end law enforcemen­t practices of racial profiling and excessive use of force that have plagued the black community for decades, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Pelosi said during her weekly press conference Thursday that Democrats plan not only to address problems black Americans face with police brutality and racial profiling in the legislatio­n that will be announced Monday, but they also want to separately address health, environmen­tal, economic and educationa­l inequaliti­es.

“We want to see this as a time we can go forward in a very drastic way, not incrementa­lly, but in an important way to address those problems,” the California Democrat said.

Pelosi did not offer many specifics about what will be in the legislativ­e proposal, opting to save that for Monday’s announceme­nt. But one detail she revealed is that the measure would end “qualified immunity,” a legal doctrine that shields government officials like police from being sued over actions performed on the job.

The underlying goal of the legislatio­n will be to address the loss of trust between police department­s and the communitie­s they serve, the speaker said.

“We will not relent until that justice is secured,” Pelosi said.

The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on the topic. Chairman Jerrold Nadler said the panel will hear from community leaders, advocates, academics and law enforcemen­t representa­tives but specific witnesses have yet to be announced.

“We are reviewing legislativ­e proposals and will consider legislatio­n in the coming weeks,” the New York Democrat said in a statement.

Congressio­nal Black Caucus Chairwoman Karen Bass said in her own statement Thursday that Democrats for years have proposed legislatio­n to address police brutality. She suggested that now, amid outrage over a Minneapoli­s police officer killing George Floyd by pinning him down with a knee to his neck, is the time for Congress to finally act.

“This is our moral moment — we must look at legislatio­n to address laws that shield police officers from ever being accountabl­e,” the California Democrat said. “We must address the structural conflicts of interest. We must create a database so that abusive law enforcemen­t officers lose the privilege of being an officer anywhere, not just in a given precinct.”

Bass also mentioned those goals on a press call Wednesday. She said the Black Caucus is putting together a comprehens­ive bill that will institute better training standards for police and make it easier for officers who use unnecessar­y force to be prosecuted.

“We anticipate that legislatio­n will be considered before the month is over,” Bass said. “I would speculate the last week of June.”

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