COMMUNITY LEADERS CALL FOR SUPPORT OF NEW BILL
George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was introduced last year
A day after a former Minneapolis police officer was convicted of murder in the killing of George Floyd, community leaders in San Diego called on the City Council and county Board of Supervisors to adopt a resolution in support of a federal police reform bill named after Floyd.
“This far is far from over,” said the Rev. Shane Harris, a civil rights activist. “Yesterday was a round in the fight, but the fight is not over.”
Calling on the city and county to pass a resolution in support of the legislation, Harris said local elected officials must be proactive, not reactive, to what he described as an epidemic of police killings.
In response, Board of Supervisors Chairman Nathan Fletcher announced he will ask the board to endorse a letter directing the county’s legislative staff to support the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act at the federal level. The board will vote on the letter — which Fletcher’s staff said would be a stronger step than a resolution — May 4.
“The renewed interest at the federal level in the ‘George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021’ is a positive step in the right direction,” Fletcher said in a statement, adding that the county’s legislative staff has been monitoring the bill.
Mayor Todd Gloria’s deputy chief of staff, Nick Serrano, said Gloria “hopes the City Council will take up a resolution of support.”
“Mayor Gloria has taken action to reimagine policing with the most meaningful reform package in recent San Diego history and has taken significant steps to create greater accountability for our police department, including establishing the new independent Commission on Police Practices,” Serrano said in a statement.
San Diego City Council President Jennifer Campbell said she was aware of the calls for a resolution.
“I look forward to exploring ways to reform the relationship between police and the community and will review any potential opportunity to support this cause,” she said.
Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe, chair of the council’s Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods committee, noted she has backed efforts to reimagine policing and said she “supports policies that will help us in this effort.”
Among several reforms, the legislation would ban chokeholds, no-knock warrants in certain cases, racial profiling and qualified immunity, making it easier to sue officers. The legislation would also give new subpoena powers to the U.S. attorney general to investigate law enforcement departments accused of engaging in a “pattern or practice” of unconstitutional conduct.
The legislation cleared the House of Representatives last summer but died in the Senate. A similar version passed the House in March.
After the verdict in Chauvin’s trial was announced, President Joe Biden called the Floyd family and vowed to support the legislation.
During a news conference Wednesday morning, community leaders in San Diego said the legislation would increase police transparency and accountability.
Bowser, an advocate of police reform, highlighted the ban on racial profiling, saying he is hopeful it would prevent killings at the hands of police.
Attorney Marlea Dell’Anno called attention to the ban on qualified immunity for law enforcement officers. Qualified immunity is a court-established concept that shields police officers and other government officials from lawsuits by saying they can only be held responsible if it can be shown their conduct violated “clearly established” federal law or constitutional rights at the time. Dell’Anno said qualified immunity prevents victims of civil rights abuses from having their day in court.
Tuesday’s verdict against former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin brought a sigh of relief, but “that sigh of relief is over and we need to keep working,” Dell’Anno said.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that the Biden administration will work to help pass the legislation, which Harris, as a senator, introduced last summer along with other lawmakers.