Bennet, Booker, Harris Introduce Sweeping Legislation to Reform Law Enforcement and Strengthen Accountability

Press Release

Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) in introducing the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, the most comprehensive bill to reform law enforcement and strengthen accountability in our country's history. The sweeping police reform legislation would hold police accountable in court for egregious misconduct, increase transparency through better data collection, and improve police practices and training.

"We must act to dismantle centuries of systemic oppression and racism in our country--from slavery and Jim Crow, to redlining and inequalities in our education system, to mass incarceration and the killing of black Americans by law enforcement," said Bennet. "In the wake of the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the fair and overdue demands of protesters across the country, I'm joining Senators Booker and Harris in introducing the Justice in Policing Act. We need a comprehensive approach to improve police training, practices, and accountability. This is one step of many we must take to seek justice and equal protection under the law for black Americans."

Last week, Bennet issued a statement following the killing of George Floyd, making a commitment to Coloradans to dismantle systemic racism by working with colleagues on legislation like the Justice in Policing Act, calling out leaders who incite racial division and violence, acting on the fair and overdue demands made by protesters across the country, and being an ally to the black community.

"America has a serious and deadly problem when it comes to the discriminatory and excessive policing of communities of color - and that policing exists within a system that time and again refuses to hold police accountable for their brutality," said Booker. "For too long, this has been accepted as a cruel reality of being black in this country. We are forced to figure out how to keep ourselves safe from law enforcement and we are viewed as a threat to be protected against instead of people worth protecting. And for too long, Congress has failed to act. That ends today with the landmark Justice in Policing Act which, for the first time in history, will take a comprehensive approach to ending police brutality. On the back-end, the bill fixes our federal laws so law enforcement officers are held accountable for egregious misconduct and police abuses are better tracked and reported. And on the front-end, the bill improves police practices and training to prevent these injustices from happening in the first place."

"America's sidewalks are stained with Black blood," said Harris. "In the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor's murders, we must ask ourselves: how many more times must our families and our communities be put through the trauma of an unarmed Black man or woman's killing at the hands of the very police who are sworn to protect and serve them? As a career prosecutor and former Attorney General of California, I know that real public safety requires community trust and police accountability. I am proud to join my colleagues in introducing this historic legislation that will get our country on a path forward."

In addition to Bennet, Booker, and Harris, the bill is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeffrey Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), and 164 U.S. Representatives.

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