The House passed (220-212) H.R. 1280, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 is a far-reaching bill, which aims to hold police accountable, change the culture of law enforcement and build trust between law enforcement and communities across the United States. This bill comes at a time when many citizens across this country are calling for an end to police brutality, a way to make it easier to hold police officers accountable and to increase transparency within police departments. 

The Justice in Policing Act would: 

• Prohibit racial and discriminatory profiling by all law enforcement;
• Ban chokeholds and limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to local law enforcement; 
• Classify lynching as a federal hate crime;
• Ban no-knock warrants at the federal level; 
• Mandate the use of body cameras by law enforcement personnel; 
• Establish the National Police Misconduct Registry to increase accountability; 
• Reform qualified immunity; and
• Require law enforcement to report use of force statistics. 

Arguments For and Against the Bill

Supporters of the bill, mainly Democrats, say for too long America has had two different justice systems, one for white Americans and another for persons of color, and that legislation is needed to rectify the dramatic differences that too often allow police officers to operate with impunity over the communities they serve instead of protecting and treating all Americans equally. They say that police officers too often act as though they are above the law since so few of them are ever brought to trial over the use of excessive force; and for those that are, laws and legal precedents ensure that only a minuscule number are ever convicted. In particular, "qualified immunity" has allowed too many bad officers to evade liability and is so expansive, it too often allows police to act with near impunity even when engaging in unconstitutional acts of violence, they say.

They also argue the bill will hold police departments accountable by enforcing settlements with the Justice Department, creates a registry of problem officers so they can't skip from one police department to the next, and holds law enforcement officers accountable for misconduct and discriminatory policing by addressing the implicit bias and racial profiling endemic to too many police forces. Taken together, supporters believe it will allow police officers to be better able to understand and work with the communities they serve, not act as an impediment to safer communities.

 Opponents of the bill, mainly Republicans, say that while some individual police officers undoubtedly are racist, the bill paints all police forces with too broad a brush and provides remedies that are too expansive and prescriptive given the scope of the problems. Although there are areas of policing that need reform, and there are parts of the bill that should be supported, the measure needs to be crafted in a manner that will not endanger law enforcement officers, and ultimately the public, by creating under-resourced and over-restricted police departments. They point to studies that show that the racial disparities in enforcement that do exist stem more from racial differences in criminal behavior, not only bias.

They also say that law enforcement officers often find themselves in situations that require split second decisions under considerable stress and that the bill will cause police officers to hesitate the next time they encounter a difficult situation. More importantly, opening officers to unwarranted scrutiny will lead them to back off on law enforcement — something we have already seen since last summer as violent crime has skyrocketed across the country, especially in minority communities who need police the most, they say. Clearly, there are problems with our criminal justice system. But states and localities can address those issues more effectively than a partisan one-size-fits-all fix from Washington, opponents say..

Should the Senate pass H.R.1280, the Justice in Policing Act?