The Senate GOP unveiled its policing reform bill on Wednesday, and for the most part, it’s a step in the right direction.
The bill, spearheaded by Sen. Tim Scott, would require local law enforcement to report all officer-related deaths to the FBI. It would make lynching a federal hate crime. And it would also establish a federal commission to review and advise police departments’ training tactics. The two biggest complaints against the package are: It does not ban controversial practices, such as chokeholds, and it does not address qualified immunity.
The second complaint (that it does not touch qualified immunity) is fair. In recent years, this legal doctrine has taken on a life of its own, serving as a shield for police officers and other government employees accused of misconduct. Regardless of its original intention, qualified immunity has become a one-size-fits-all standard with no historical or legal basis, as Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a dissenting opinion this week.
There is a legitimate concern that qualified immunity protects officers from legal repercussions at the expense of the citizenry. By refusing to address or amend this doctrine, the Senate GOP is refusing to acknowledge how unjust the system can be. And until our lawmakers wrestle with the legal wrongs built into the system, real reform will always be just out of reach.
The principle complaint against the bill, however, is that it discourages local police departments from using certain chokeholds, rather than banning these practices completely. Thus, the bill doesn’t go far enough, according to Democrats. But on this, the GOP is right. The problem isn’t necessarily the chokehold; it’s the lack of training accompanying the maneuver.
The fact is that chokeholds are sometimes necessary in cases of extreme resistance. So, it would be imprudent to ban the practice completely and potentially cripple our officers in the field. But we do need to train our officers to treat a chokehold as a last resort. The emphasis must always be on de-escalation rather than control. And the Senate GOP bill would make sure that police departments are putting de-escalation into practice by withholding federal funds from departments that allow chokeholds without submitting regular reports on them.
This reform might be incremental, as the Democrats have said, but it is an important step toward increased accountability and transparency. Let’s hope it’s not the last.
