TOKYO – President Biden is expected to issue an executive order on Tuesday to reform federal police on the two-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd, who died after being handcuffed and nailed to the ground by a police officer. of Minneapolis, acquaintances. said the matter.
The order will order all federal agencies to review their use of force policies, create a national registry of officers fired for misconduct, use grants to encourage state and local police to tighten restrictions on law enforcement asphyxiation and non-detonation and restrict the transfer of most military equipment to law enforcement, people said. They requested anonymity to discuss the details of the order before it was announced.
The White House and the Department of Justice have been working on the order since last year, when efforts to reach a bipartisan compromise on a national police review failed in the Senate. Mr Biden’s executive order is expected to be more limited than this bill, a sign of the balancing act the president is trying to navigate in criminal justice.
Although the death of Mr. Floyd and the national protest movement he inspired helped drastically change public opinion on race and police issues in the summer of 2020, Republicans have also launched political attacks depicting Democrats as enemies of the law.
Either side is unlikely to be fully liked by both sides: many progressive activists still want stronger limits and measures of accountability for the police, although the rise in violent crime in some cities has become a Republican line of attack ahead of the midterm elections.
But officials believe the order, the final text of which has been kept close after the leak of a previous draft earlier this year, will receive support from both activists and police.
Mr. Biden plans to sign the new executive order, along with relatives of Mr. Floyd and police officials, in what is expected to be one of his first official acts after returning from a diplomatic trip to South Korea and Japan this week.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. superficial to intervene. They threatened to withdraw their support, leading to a major resumption of the process by the White House Home Affairs Council, led by Susan Rice.
In recent months, the White House has worked more closely with police and Justice Department officials who have more experience straddling police reform and law enforcement agencies, as the administration has elevated a more centrist position in criminal justice.
“The White House made significant disclosures to us and tried to listen to our concerns,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Investigation Forum, a bipartisan think tank that focuses on police practices. “This final executive order is substantially different from the original version, and that has made a big difference to many of us in law enforcement.”
Mr Biden has repeatedly emphasized a message of investing in the police, rather than funding, in a national debate over whether the government should give more resources to police departments or spend money on mental health and other services. social.
One of the changes reflected in the executive order, according to connoisseurs of the final version, focused on what it would say about the rules of use of force.
The administration has removed language that would have allowed federal law enforcement to use lethal force only “as a last resort when there is no reasonable alternative, that is, only when necessary to prevent bodily injury or death.” serious and imminent. ” The previous version would also have encouraged state and local police to adopt the same standard through federal discretionary grants.
Law enforcement officials complained that the rule would allow for guessing the decisions of officers in demanding circumstances. Instead, the final order refers to a Justice Department policy issued this week that says officers can shoot suspects when they have “a reasonable belief that the subject of that force poses an imminent danger of death or physical injury. serious to the officer or to another person. ” ”
Jim Pasco, the executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he thought the new language of use of force “would bring more clarity and better guidance to officers,” but without making them so risk-averse. which are not protected. and others when necessary.
“It’s not a more or less strict matter,” Mr. Pasco. “It’s a matter of better framing. And a better-defined definition of the use of force. ”
He added: “It’s not a sea change.”
Udi Ofer, deputy national political director of the American Civil Liberties Union, offered cautious support for Justice Department policy, saying much would depend on how it was conducted.
“Proper implementation of this standard will be critical to its success,” he said. “We have seen jurisdictions with strong standards where agents still resort to the use of lethal force, so just having these words on paper will not be enough. All culture and mindset must change to bring these words to life. save lives “.
The administration will also include guidance on detecting inherent biases among the base, including those that may harbor white supremacist views, according to people familiar with the matter.
Some provisions of the order would be based on previous Justice Department efforts, including requiring federal law enforcement officers to carry body cameras. The order would also direct the government to expand data collection, including incidents of use of force across the country, and seek to standardize and improve the credentials of law enforcement agencies.
Katie Benner contributed reports from Washington.