Law enforcement groups deny 'defund' efforts killed police reform - WSET
FILE - In this June 12, 2020, file photo, protesters demanding change in the wake of the death of George Floyd hold a media briefing outside the Minnesota State Capitol, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)
WASHINGTON (SBG) — Sixteen months after the killing of George Floyd, a policing reform effort on Capitol Hill spurred by his death appears to have fizzled out in a familiar haze of partisan finger-pointing, leaving little hope for progress on establishing new federal law enforcement standards.
Talks collapsed last week after several months of intense and occasionally promising negotiations as lawmakers acknowledged their disagreements were too deep to resolve. What went wrong is still up for debate, as major policing organizations publicly push back against claims by Republicans that Democratic efforts to “defund the police" sank the bill.
"Despite some media reports, at no point did any legislative draft propose 'defunding the police,'” the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police said in a joint statement Tuesday. "In fact, the legislation specifically provided additional funding to assist law enforcement agencies in training, agency accreditation, and data collection initiatives."
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., had asserted the process stalled because Democrats insisted on provisions that “limited or reduced funding for the police.” A Democratic proposal would have required police departments to enact reforms to remain eligible for key federal grants.
“When you tell local law enforcement agencies that you are ineligible for money, that's defunding the police, there's no way to spin that," Scott said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday.
Democratic negotiators Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., denied the proposed legislation would have cut law enforcement funding, noting it would have increased some police resources. However, they said they reached a fundamental stalemate with Scott on issues of accountability, transparency, and raising standards for police.
“It's a shame when you have leaders of law enforcement who were there with you, but we couldn't get it all the way," Booker told CNN.
Scott cast blame entirely on Democrats, saying they walked away from a reasonable compromise. He maintained there were several areas of Booker’s final proposal where departments would have been disqualified for funding or could have their resources slashed by the Department of Justice if they did not meet new nationalized standards.
“There were more than seven sections in the bill that literally said we’re going to reduce your funding or make you ineligible for funding if you don’t let a national standard dictate all local policing... I’m not turning over local police to the Department of Justice,” he said on Fox News.
Scott had previously endorsed the idea that departments should lose access to some federal funding if they do not reform. However, he also objected to aspects of executive orders signed by then-President Donald Trump last year that aimed to condition discretionary federal grants on departments meeting certain training standards.
“The Trump executive order I actually agree to,” Scott said Sunday. “What I did not agree to was the cuts that come from noncompliance.”
The breakdown of negotiations and public recriminations signal a missed opportunity on a contentious issue after both parties embraced calls for reform in the wake of Floyd’s death and subsequent nationwide protests. Scott and Booker indicated they reached agreements on some issues, but intractable differences remained, including a dispute over the scope of a proposed nationwide police misconduct database.
The politics of the issue have shifted considerably since last summer. Amid a spike in homicides and signs some cities that cut their police budgets are already regretting it, Republicans have shied away from any changes they say would hinder law enforcement’s ability to prevent crime. Many moderate Democrats believe the “defund the police” movement damaged candidates in swing districts last fall, even if they did not support it.
According to Christine Gardiner, a professor of criminal justice at California State University, Fullerton and a senior research fellow at the Police Foundation, public opinion on policing and reform efforts has become deeply polarized. In recent surveys of California voters, Republicans were far more likely than Democrats or independents to favor police over racial justice advocates and far less likely to support specific reform proposals.
“I can say that Republicans’ views of police and necessary reform are very different than Democrats, Independents, and other political party supporters,” Gardiner said.
Scott asserted he is still willing to return to the negotiating table, although neither party is likely to budge much with next year’s midterm elections looming. Police organizations expressed disappointment that talks had derailed, but they have not entirely abandoned federal reforms either.
"Our organizations remain steadfast in working with all interested parties who are willing to take a fact-based approach to enact effective and lasting change, to avoid a patchwork of state laws that do not provide uniform standards and guidance to the policing profession," the FOP and IACP said.
Despite the gridlock in Congress, many state and local governments have moved forward with their own transparency and accountability initiatives. Attorneys general in California, Colorado, and Illinois announced new investigations or overhauls of local police departments in recent weeks.
The Department of Justice has also taken some unilateral action, primarily focused on federal law enforcement agencies. Earlier this month, the department barred federal officers from using neck restraint techniques during arrests or executing no-knock warrants in most cases.
Gardiner said any shift toward more fair and equitable policing will depend heavily on state and community-level action, and there have been many promising developments on that front. There is a clear role for the federal government, though, and elected leaders have so far failed to fulfill that responsibility.
“Some agencies will do nothing and won’t do anything unless mandated to do it,” Gardiner said. “Some states won’t pass legislation However, this is where the federal government must step in and lead so that everyone who calls America home has the same quality policing and confidence in their police.”
source: https://wset.com/news/nation-world/law-enforcement-groups-deny-defund-efforts-killed-police-reform
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