Letter to the Hon. Jerrold Nadler, Chairman of the US House Committee on the Judiciary - Torres Offers Amendments to Justice in Policing Act

Letter

Dear Chairman Nadler,

I would like to express my gratitude to yourself, Chairwoman Bass, as well as Senators Booker and Harris for your immense efforts in drafting the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill because we need legislation to address systemic racism in law enforcement and protect black and brown communities from discriminatory police practices. It is time for transformational change in America.

As the Judiciary Committee turns to marking up the bill, I submit to you the following proposed amendments for consideration:

1. Require that the national police misconduct registry accounts for officers that resign before a complaint investigation is completed. I therefore recommend amending Section 201 to include that all investigations should be completed, even if an officer leaves a department, and amend Section 201(b)(1)(B) as follows in the italicized text: "(B) complaints that are pending review, even for officers that have left the department, disaggregated by whether the complaint involved a use of force".
2. Require the Attorney General provide an annual report on best practices and case studies developed and evaluated through the provision of law enforcement grants in Section 114, and to disseminate such report to local police departments. The bill provides grants for the study and implementation of "effective management, training, recruiting, hiring, and oversight standards and programs to promote effective community and problem-solving strategies for law enforcement agencies...". I therefore recommend amending Section 114 with a subsection requiring the Attorney General to compile an annual report on best practices and case studies.
3. Require DOJ to review the decertification system for officers across states, and recommend standards for decertification. I therefore recommend amending Title II Subtitle A to include a review of decertification systems for officers across every state.
4. Provide funding to study and implement effective mental health crisis interventions in which health professionals and social workers are involved in response to needs related to mental health. I therefore recommend amending Section 114(c)(1) to include "mental health calls".
5. Specify that all state certification requirements for hiring a law enforcement officer must take into account actions of misconduct. The bill requires states to ensure all law enforcement officers hired fulfill state certification requirements. We should ensure that state certification requirements are strong enough to prevent hiring officers that conduct misconduct. I therefore recommend amending Section 202 to require state certification requirements account for former officer misconduct.
6. Promote the adoption of policies requiring officers to identify themselves. Such information should be provided in writing to individuals who officers have stopped, such as through business cards. I therefore recommend amending Section 114(d)(1)(F) to be as follows: "professional verbal communications with civilians, including officer self- identification".
7. Provide funding to study and implement effective police responses to protests. I therefore recommend amending Section 114(c)(1) to include "protest response".
8. Review the use of practices requiring officers to issue a predetermined number of tickets, citations, arrests, or summonses. I therefore recommend amending Section 118 to require law enforcement agencies to submit a report on any use of quotas for numbers of tickets, citations, arrests, or summonses, and for the Attorney General to assess quota systems on its impact on discriminatory practices and issue recommendations on the use of quota systems.
9. Provide pilot funding for mental health and trauma counseling for officers. A study has shown that officers who witness the injury of a peer officer can increase the probability that they will use force. Providing trauma counseling may counter the impacts of these specific situations. I therefore recommend we amend Part V Subtitle B to include pilot funding for mental health and trauma counseling for officers.

Thank you again for your consideration. Please feel free to reach out to my Legislative Director, Maryam Janani, at maryam.janani@mail.house.gov to discuss these proposals further.

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