By Reagan
McCarthy | Townhall.com
Source: AP
Photo/Patrick Semansky
President Trump is signing an
executive order on Tuesday regarding police reform that instructs Attorney
General Bill Barr to oversee accountability for law enforcement units, a White
House official originally told Townhall on Monday night. AG
Barr will validate independent bodies to credential law enforcement units if
reasonable standards are met. Practices on the radar of AG Barr include
de-escalation training, use-of-force standards, systems to detect early warning
signs of issues with law enforcement personnel and community engagement
measures. The executive order mandates that any law enforcement department
seeking grants via the federal government must be certified by these
independent bodies as overseen by AG Barr.
The order also allows AG Barr
to create a system in which information related to cases in which law
enforcement officers are proven to have used excessive force can be shared, and
units receiving public funds will be required to report the information. This
measure will prevent law enforcement officers who are guilty of excessive force
from moving from one jurisdiction to another freely. DOJ grants will go
strictly to law enforcement departments that follow these procedures
fully.
Mental health concerns are also
addressed in this executive order. AG Barr and Health and Human Services
Secretary Alex Azar will foster programs that will create training and
resources for law enforcement officers to prepare for encounters with
individuals suffering from impaired mental health, addiction and homelessness.
It will also increase the number of social workers who work in conjunction with
law enforcement in co-responder programs so that appropriate situations can be
addressed by both parties.
The executive order brings
focus back to training programs, and mandates accountability for law
enforcement, while not vilifying the profession in its entirety. Ending
qualified immunity is still off the table at this point.
President Trump paid tribute to
families who have lost loved ones to police brutality and vowed to pursue
justice in his address in the Rose Garden before signing the order. The
president affirmed his opposition to the "radical and dangerous" efforts
to "defund, dismantle and dissolve" law enforcement departments:
"Without police, there is
chaos. Without law there is anarchy. And without safety there is
catastrophe," President Trump said. "We need leaders at every level of government
who have the moral clarity to state these obvious facts."
On the executive order, the
president said that the credentialing programs demand that units adhere to the
"highest standard," and that chokeholds as a use of force will be
banned unless an officer's life is at risk. While he says that this executive
action is a step in the right direction, President Trump indicated that
Congress will be working to pass police reform.
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RELATED
ARTICLE
Defund police unions, not police departments
A
protester takes a knee as he tries to talk with police guarding the old state
capitol in Raleigh, N.C., on Sunday, May 31, 2020. It was the second day of
protests in the North Carolina capital following the death of Minnesotan George
Floyd while in police custody.
"Blessed are the peacekeepers, for they shall be
called the children of God."
– Matthew 5:9
There are few professions where a person kisses their
family goodbye on their way to work and the family silently thinks: “Will this
be the last time I see them alive?” Every time a peace officer makes a traffic
stop, or responds to a civil or criminal complaint, there is a potential for
death that lurks within the shadows of their minds: “Will this be a routine
call or will this be that time I will be taken out?”
When police around America recently turned on their TVs
and saw how George Floyd was treated by now fired Minneapolis police officer
Derek Chauvin, many asked how could anyone whose duty is to protect and serve
do this? As they prepared for duty in their precincts that evening, most knew
they would be a target for angry rioters on every street in America; and all
they wanted to do was protect and serve.
William Shakespeare wrote, “A bad act oft lives on as all
good ones are interred with one’s bones.”
The evil deeds of bad cops always make headlines,
especially if their violations are compounded in an ethnic incident. While bad
cops are a very small minority, all cops instantly become the subject of
chastisement. Why? Because the good that cops do daily doesn’t make headlines.
So the media lays in wait for one cop to step out of line so they can go into
attack mode! This way they can lash out against every American peace officer
and condemn every department for racism and corruption.
Why didn’t the media report 52 officers were murdered on
the job in 2019? And the year before, 46 were killed in the line of duty? And
why didn’t media report The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund has
predicted that violent acts against police officers will continue to escalate
as long as their departments lack the ability to self-manage and
self-discipline? And why didn’t they report unions and liberal politicians have
more influence over departments than their chiefs do?
“These restrictions limit our ability to manage, and that
reflects in our accountability.”
– Chief Daren Collins
Police chiefs around the nation agree they need to make
adjustments on the training of officers to meet today’s challenges. Criminals
are younger and more aggressive. They believe this is due to a lack of values,
training at home, and public education. All consider the connubiality of police
unions and politicians prevents them from improving departments. They claim
they lack funding for training new cops and weeding out the bad ones, since all
funding is preordained by unions and politicians.
During the past decade, complaints filed against police
officers have been taken seriously in the aftermath of incidents in Ferguson,
Missouri, Baltimore and now Minneapolis. It is important to note that only a
small amount have merit. Many are filed simply because someone is upset that
they were arrested for legitimate reasons. Gang members and drug dealers are
notorious for filing complaints in the hopes of sidelining good officers. But
those deemed genuine are not taken lightly.
When a department takes action on a complaint, the first
person they have to deal with is a union representative. Unions are effective
defending members with a pattern of abuse, who can go unpunished for years.
Unions and liberal politicians that depend on union money have more influence
on policy than police chiefs. When departments hold hearings, they must be done
behind closed doors. This enables union reps to defend the actions of bad cops
with the help of local politicians.
“The role of most police unions today is to act as an
insurance policy to protect a few bad cops.”
– Dale Bellman
Reuters compared the Minneapolis police department to 82
other big union departments and found that contracts included provisions to
minimize discipline, alter records, and review rules that shield repeat
offenders. Attempts by police chiefs to make changes were met with strict
resistance from unions. This was most notable in cities run by liberal
politicians without any right-to-work laws.
The day after prosecutors in Minneapolis took action
against officers for the death of George Floyd, police union president Bob
Kroll said, “It is despicable to deny any union member representation.”
In right-to-work states, there are few problems with
misconduct reviews since unions don’t have the clout to disrupt investigations.
But in strong union states, they donate to liberal campaigns and that political
influence enables them to regulate department authority. New York unions
donated over a million dollars to liberal campaigns last year.
“It’s like a protection racket for them.”
– Steve Fletcher
In strong union states, police unions have made reforms
difficult. It’s taken federal intervention to enact them. Former Justice
Department attorney Jonathan Smith, assigned to investigate police practices in
Cleveland, said, “The union continually interfered with federally mandated
department reforms.”
The National Association of Police Organizations, which
monitors every major department, demands strict individual responsibility from
every officer. But according to President Michael McHale, “This current
national campaign to discredit all departments is out of line. We’re extremely
disappointed to see this. This anti-police movement could nail the coffin shut
for all American law enforcement. Those who support our police officers are
happy. Those that hate the police never will be happy.”
Congressional Democrats just introduced the “Justice in
Policing Act.” No law enforcement groups or Republicans had input in this bill.
It includes rules that would be so pernicious to policing it would make it
impossible to enforce the laws in any state. While the bill purports to ensure
justice and fair treatment for all, it creates a potpourri of impractical
conflicting laws and policies. This proves that its authors have no knowledge
of the law and enforcing it, and care more about crooks than cops.
"We’re going to fight like hell to pass this
legislation and put cops in their place."
– Chuck Schumer
A June Gallup Poll concerning confidence with police
revealed that 53 percent expressed “a great deal of confidence” and 21 percent
were “very content” with law enforcement. Only 16 percent viewed cops with
“little" or "no" confidence or had no opinion. This mirrors the
results of a recent Rasmussen poll about the police and shows us that media is
the force behind this national hate campaign against police officers.
This defunding of police rhetoric makes about as much
sense as fighting a nuclear war with a bow and arrow. Most departments have few
problems. The ones that do can’t remedy them with unions and liberal
politicians over-ruling them. The only reforms we need in our departments are
to dump the unions, allow chiefs to make their rules, discipline bad cops and
let them fund their community projects as needed. If all political influence is
eliminated, we can “judge them on their merit” alone.
We can’t operate departments with different rules for
special groups out of fear of reprisal. All lives matter! If civic leaders wish
to improve their cities for people of every color they must negate union and
political influence. Departments must manage their officers and deal their own
problems. They can adjust their operations to meet the needs of their
communities and all law-abiding citizens will benefit from this. Then all
criminals will get exactly what they deserve also! When one fallen officer
reached heaven’s gates, God said: “Step forward now policeman, you’ve borne
your burdens well. Come walk a beat on Heaven’s streets, you’ve done your time
in hell.” (The Policeman’s Prayer)
Contributing Columnist William Haupt III is a retired
professional journalist, author, and citizen legislator in California for over
40 years. He got his start working to approve California Proposition 13.
