Trump policing commission calls for independent probes of officer shootings, more technology use
Source: Washington Post
Trump policing commission calls for independent probes of officer shootings, more technology use
Report issued by then-Attorney General William P. Barr as Biden administration prepares to launch its own commission.
By Tom Jackman
1/3/2021, 8:00:43 a.m.
Every state should require its police departments to have an independent agency investigate all fatal shootings and other serious use-of-force incidents by officers as one way of restoring public faith in American policing, according to the final report of a commission created by President Trump to examine ways to improve the criminal justice system.
The report also calls for expanding the use of various technologies to fight crime, improving recruitment and training of officers, maintaining qualified immunity for officers who are sued for their actions, and reining in reform-minded prosecutors who declare they will not enforce certain laws such as marijuana possession.
And to further reduce the use of police force, the report suggests that police improve the investigations into complaints by civilians. That way, more people might Comply, Then Complain against officers who use excessive force, rather than resist an officers commands, the commission concluded.
The 332-page report by the Presidents Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice was compiled by 18 police, prosecution and Justice Department officials, aided by 15 working groups composed of 120 members who are also mostly police and prosecutors. The all-law enforcement composition of the main commission was criticized by members of the defense bar, the civil rights community and others for its lack of diversity. After the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) sued then-Attorney General William P. Barr and the commission for violating federal law on advisory committees, a federal judge in Washington found the commission did violate the law, and ordered a disclaimer included in the report saying its membership was not fairly balanced, it did not file a charter or provide timely notice of its meetings.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/03/trump-police-commission-report/