Yesterday, a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all charges — second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin’s bail was revoked, and he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs — as is common in murder cases. Chauvin’s sentencing will be in eight weeks.
Afterward, speaking with a crowd of George Floyd’s family members, Terrence, one of his brothers, said, “What a day to be a Floyd.” As many family members made clear, this will not bring back George Floyd, or Daunte Wright, or Sandra Bland, or Breonna Taylor. But perhaps this is a turning point.
Last June, Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., introduced the George Floyd Policing and Reform Act of 2020, co-authored with Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, and then-Sen.-now-Vice-President Kamala Harris:
The far-reaching bill, among other things:
Prohibits federal, state, and local law enforcement from racial, religious and discriminatory profiling.
Mandates training on racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling for all law enforcement.
Requires law enforcement to collect data on all investigatory activities.
Bans chokeholds and carotid holds at the federal level and conditions law enforcement funding for state and local governments banning chokeholds.
Bans no-knock warrants in drug cases at the federal level and conditions law enforcement funding for state and local governments banning no-knock warrants at the local and state level.
Requires that deadly force be used only as a last resort and requires officers to employ de-escalation techniques first.
Changes the standard to evaluate whether law enforcement use of force was justified from whether the force was “reasonable” to whether the force was “necessary.”
Condition grants on state and local law enforcement agencies’ establishing the same use of force standard
The act has passed the House of Representatives, and awaits the Senate’s attention. Bass said she remains hopeful that the Senate will vote in favor. Booker agreed. Pres. Joe Biden spoke with Vice President Harris in an address to the nation last night, and said:
We can’t stop here.
While training is important, I think it gets oversold as a solution. I think the most difficult part of this will be dealing with who gets hired. A lot of wrong people get hired to be cops and what makes them wrong may not manifest for years. Identifying those unfit for duty who are already employed and doing something about it will be a monumental task. Employing the right people and supporting them as the system changes to make sure they stay will be equally challenging. That puts the focus on political leaders to be clear about the changes needed and stay the course while they are implemented. It's hard to be optimistic but it's not impossible. It's as big as anything the country has ever tried to accomplish before. It's not just a systemic change, it's a societal change as well.