Democrats and Others Decry Lack of Fundamental Change in Trump’s Police Reforms Executive Order

President Donald Trump signed an executive order today addressing concerns about police misconduct and violence which have triggered weeks of primarily peaceful demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd, the unarmed Black man murdered by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who was videotaped kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Democrats and critics described the White House’s reforms as falling short of the changes a broad cross-section of Americans have demanded.

“What’s needed now is not more stoking of fear and division,” Trump stated. “We need to bring law enforcement and communities closer together and not drive them apart.”

The order will ban chokeholds “except if an officer’s life is in danger.” The President also tied federal grants to police departments “that seek independent credentialing, certifying that they meet high standards.”

Training for police officers is also included in the Executive Order, but the head of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives suggested during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing held earlier this evening that additional training is only part of the solution.

“Training is very important for officers,” said Chief C.J. Davis who heads the Durham, North Carolina police department. “But, in the George Floyd case, I think something was very apparent to the world…that there was a disconnect between the officers and a human being.”

New Jersey Senator Cory Book led the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to examine police departments use of force rules and community policing. Booker and more than 250 Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced the Justice in Policing Act.

“We are at a point in American history that is a crossroads, where millions of Americans, all 50 states, are engaging in some types of action of protests whether it’s on social media platforms, or in the middle of a pandemic out in the streets,” Booker said. “And, the choice we have right now before us as this body is in the face of Americans from all backgrounds, races, religions and parties are calling for reform. What will this body do? The bill that we are proposing is not new…these are reforms that have been put in place in some cities and some states. This is a real effort to hold policing in America accountable for egregious behavior, it will create transparency as sunlight is the best disinfectant to injustice.”

The former Democratic Presidential candidate addressed his remarks on the floor of the Senate and continued to advocate during the Judiciary Committee Hearing for police reforms offering more than “half-steps” to resolve generations of police violence targeting Black Americans.

During the hearing, South Carolina’s Republican Senator Lindsey Graham pointed to the President’s Executive Order stipulating the withholding of federal grants to enforce stricter measures on police departments.

“To all the people in the law enforcement business, would losing a grant get your attention?” Graham questioned.

A staunch ally of President Trump’s, Graham conceded, “It’s a very important time in our nation’s history.”

There is little doubt about the clear call for change and the urgency of this time, but perhaps what most Americans want in the words of Chief Davis is “a change in the culture of policing” and policies unequivocally devoted to that outcome.