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President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday aimed at preventing and punishing police misconduct, a step that took place on the second anniversary of George Floyd’s police assassination, but which fell far short of reform legislation that the White House hoped it would be law.
The order authorizes the formation of a national accreditation system for police departments and will create a national database of federal officers who have a disciplinary record or face complaints of misconduct. Federal law enforcement agencies will also update their policies on the use of force to emphasize escalation.
“It is a measure of what we can do together to heal the very soul of this nation, to address the deep fear and trauma, the exhaustion, that black Americans in particular have experienced for generations, “Biden said.” And channeling this private pain and public outrage at a rare mark of progress for years to come. “
Biden was joined by civil rights leaders, police officials, members of Congress and relatives of victims of police violence, including Floyd and Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by police in Louisville in 2020. take place at a later time of tension. of several mass shootings, including one in which black Buffalo residents were attacked at a grocery store.
The order was the result of a months-long process that began in earnest after last September’s collapse of Congress’ efforts to draft a bipartisan bill. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. the White House.
Wednesday’s version reflected a careful balance. He noted that “the vast majority of law enforcement officers do this difficult job with honor and integrity,” adding that “fatal encounters have affected black and brown and other people of color differently.”
Two years after Floyd’s death, little reform movement
Earlier in the day, Biden addressed the massacre that took place in Texas on Tuesday, when an 18-year-old boy killed 19 children and two teachers in an elementary school, saying he and First Lady Jill Biden would visit. the community in the coming years. days.
“I am just sick and tired. I am fed up and tired of what is happening and what continues to happen, “Biden said, before escalating his rhetoric on the constitutional right to bear arms.
“The second amendment is not absolute,” he said. “When it was passed, you couldn’t have a … you couldn’t have a cannon. You couldn’t have a certain kind of weapon. There have always been limitations. But guess what? These actions we’ve done before have saved lives. And they can do it again “.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. They fear that Biden has lost his sense of urgency over police reform following the collapse of legislation called by Floyd, a black man whose death under the knees of a Minneapolis police officer in 2020 sparked protests. social justice across the country.
Biden said he would have signed the executive order sooner, but was worried he would derail negotiations in the Senate. “Our Republican colleagues were opposed to any significant reform,” he said. “So we have to work on that executive order.”
He also alluded to the concern of black leaders that order is not being met. “I know that progress can be slow and frustrating. And there is concern that the account of the race inspired two years ago will begin to fade,” he said toward the end of his statement, urging activists and legislators to keep up the pressure.
A year ago, on the first anniversary of Floyd’s death, the man’s family was also in the White House. Biden then assured Floyd’s relatives that he was still waiting to sign police reform legislation named in honor of his brother, father and uncle.
At last year’s meeting, Biden told them he was frustrated that the legislation had not been passed, but said attendees were willing to be patient and “make sure it is the bill. appropriate, not a hasty bill. ”
George Floyd’s Police Justice Act, which was passed by the House but not the Senate, would have implemented a wider range of changes, including a ban on the use of suffocation orders and a ban on racial profiling. The main point of contention was to end “qualified immunity”, which makes it more difficult to prosecute law enforcement officers for their actions at work.
Without legislation, Biden has little authority to directly control the practices of the country’s 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies. And while it may change the policies of federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, those changes may be reversed by a future president.
Thus, Biden’s actions on Wednesday were intended to provide guidelines and incentives to the local police in many ways.
The executive order authorizes the Department of Justice to use federal grant funding to encourage local police to further restrict the use of asphyxiation and non-detonation orders, measures that federal law enforcement agencies they have already taken. The order also places new restrictions on the transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies.
He says federal agents have a duty to intervene if they see other law enforcement using excessive force. This language echoes the changes made by the Justice Department last week in its use of force policy, which was first updated in 18 years.
Similarly, the order will encourage all law enforcement agencies to participate in the new misconduct database and to adopt escalation policies similar to those implemented by federal agencies.
The White House does not have the power to make long-awaited changes by advocates, such as getting rid of qualified immunity, which protects police officers from being sued individually for misconduct and was included in the draft. federal law. Dozens of bills that would remove this immunity have also been rejected.
Other changes, such as a ban on suffocation or stricter policies on when police can use force, also require action at the state or local level.
But Biden and Vice President Harris, while acknowledging that Wednesday’s action did not go as far as they wanted, still declared it an important moment. When Harris introduced Biden, he addressed the relatives of those who had died at the hands of the police.
“You’ve felt so much pain and you’ve endured unimaginable pain. You’ve experienced the anguish of losing someone you love and love,” he said. “And yet you are here, as you have been during the days of your grief, standing disinterestedly full of grace and endurance to speak, to speak, often against prognosis, great odds of fighting for a world where no one should experience for what you’ve been through. “
After signing the order, Biden called Floyd’s daughter Gianna.
“You’re getting so big!” he told the 10-year-old.
He also explained what he told her almost two years ago. “My father will change history,” Biden recalled. “And he will, love. He will. “