Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Biden police-reform order will create national registry of fired officers, discourage no-knock warrants and more

"President Joe Biden plans to sign a long-awaited executive order to reform policing practices Wednesday, the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd," CBS News reports. "The order will create a national registry of officers fired for misconduct; encourage state and local police to tighten restrictions on chokeholds and so-called no-knock warrants; and restrict the transfer of military equipment to law enforcement agencies, said two sources familiar with the matter."

Records relating to police misconduct are secret or hard to get in 35 states, Gateway Journalism Review reported last year. That can make it easier for misbehaving officers to get hired elsewhere.

Biden began crafting the order last year after a similar bill failed to attract bipartisan support. "The order is expected to be more limited than an earlier, draft version, which infuriated the nation’s largest policing groups when it leaked in January. Since then, the White House has worked more closely with police and Justice Department officials and elevated a more centrist position on criminal justice," Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Charlie Savage report for The New York Times.

"While Biden cannot directly issue mandates to state and local law enforcement agencies, senior administration officials who briefed reporters Tuesday said attorneys general should use their power to award grants that promote and support agencies in getting accredited or those that want to adopt such policies but could use some federal help," CBS reports.

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