Editorial voice from elsewhere
This time might be different. George Floyd’s on-camera murder while under the control of Minneapolis police might go down in history as an event similar to Rosa Parks deciding to keep her seat at the front of the bus.
Over the last few decades the deaths of unarmed black men and women at the hands of police have produced mostly local demonstrations and a great deal of hand-wringing among politicians, but scant reforms.
The grim video of Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin grinding his knee into Floyd’s neck appears to have achieved political critical mass, spurring reform proposals from Congress through statehouses through city halls.
In the politically polarized U.S. House, Democratic Speaker and Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, both of California, said that they can find common ground on key reforms, including: Tying federal funding to required police training on bias; ensuring that union contracts cannot preclude firing officers with multiple disciplinary findings; altering the legal immunity that prevents victims from seeking redress against officers and departments; and requiring detailed record-keeping on arrests of minority members.
Other sound proposals call for outlawing the chokeholds that have led to several deaths. Many departments already ban them as a matter of policy.
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf called for reforms, mandating a review of use-of-force training standards, creating local citizens advisory boards through the Commission on Crime and Delinquency, creating a special prosecutor to investigate police violence rather than leaving it to local authorities, providing more state assistance to help officers deal with stress; mandating easy access to police camera videos; and other measures.
It’s also clear that civilian authorities must address police training to handle demonstrations. Over the last few weeks, there have been many instances of police instigating or accelerating violence, rather than trying to control it. Video of two Buffalo, N.Y., officers pushing an unarmed, unthreatening 75-year-old man to the ground and causing a life-threatening head injury was particularly disturbing – all the more so when police later filed a report claiming he simply had tripped.
Congress and state lawmakers should take on many other reforms. Police unions should not be allowed to donate to politicians running for district attorney or attorney general, for example, which creates the impression that police are a favored political constituency and casts doubt on investigations of police.
Nobody thinks police work is easy, and everyone knows it is crucial. But requiring accountability from public agencies does not constitute a lack of support.
As Wolf correctly put it: “It’s not about pointing fingers, it’s about building trust.”