Central Coast congressman signs on to bill to ban police chokeholds, mandate body cameras
A Central Coast Congressman has signed on to a massive effort to overhaul tactics used by local police departments and increase accountability for officers who abuse their authority.
U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, who represents San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties as well as a portion of northern Ventura County, is one of the original co-sponsors of the Justice in Policing Act, which was introduced by House and Senate Democrats on Monday.
The sweeping bill would place a federal ban on officer chokeholds, create a national registry to track police misconduct, mandate body and dash cameras, and lower legal standards to pursue criminal and civil penalties for police misconduct, among a host of other reforms.
The bill was formerly introduced by U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
In a news release Tuesday, Carbajal’s office said the bicameral measure marks the “first-ever comprehensive approach to hold problem police officers accountable and rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”
“Since George Floyd was killed, millions of Americans of every race, age and background have joined together to protest the injustices black men and women too often face when dealing with law enforcement,” Carbajal said in a prepared statement.
“No person of color in America should have to live in fear of being killed by a police officer. Moreover, no rogue police officer should be able to use the cover of their badge to shield themselves from accountability,” the statement read. “The first step in enhancing the police-community relationship is to ensure that law enforcement leaders across the country have the incentive and ability to remove problem police officers from their ranks. I’m proud to be an original cosponsor of the Justice in Policing Act, which makes long overdue reforms to ensure our law enforcement can better serve all members of their community.”
The introduction of the bill follows weeks of national protests, including several peaceful demonstrations throughout Arroyo Grande, Nipomo, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo and other Central Coast communities last week.
Carbajal joined protesters for a march sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Santa Maria June 6.
The Justice in Policing Act seeks to:
- Prohibit federal, state, and local law enforcement from racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling, and mandate training on racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling for all law enforcement;
- Ban chokeholds and so-called “no-knock” warrants at the federal level and limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement;
- Mandate the use of dashboard cameras and body cameras for federal officers, and require state and local law enforcement to use existing federal funds to ensure the use of police body cameras;
- Establish a National Police Misconduct Registry to prevent problematic officers who are fired or leave on agency from moving to another jurisdiction without accountability;
- Amend federal criminal statute from a “willfulness” to a “recklessness” standard to successfully identify and prosecute police misconduct;
- Reform qualified immunity so that people are not restricted from recovering damages when police violate their constitutional rights;
- Establish public safety grants for community-based organizations to create local advisory commissions and task forces to help communities to re-imagine and develop “just and equitable” public safety practices;
- Create law enforcement development and training programs to develop best practices, and require the creation of law enforcement accreditation standard recommendations based on U.S. President Barack Obama’s task force on 21st century policing;
- Require state and local law enforcement agencies to report use of force data that breaks down demographics by race, sex, disability, religion and age;
- Improve the use of pattern and practice investigations at the federal level by granting the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division subpoena power, and create a grant program for state attorneys general to develop authority to conduct independent investigations into problematic police departments; and
- Establish a Department of Justice task force to coordinate the investigation, prosecution and enforcement efforts of federal, state and local governments in cases related to law enforcement misconduct.
Mannal Haddad, communications director for Carbajal’s office, said Tuesday that the bill will be discussed in the House Judiciary Committee at 7 a.m. Wednesday as the body addresses the general subject of police brutality. The hearing will be live streamed for the public on the Committee’s website.
The bill is expected to have its first reading on the House floor by the end of the month.
The call for reform of police practices has been amplified in recent weeks following the alleged murder at the hands of police of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
