Clay-Cohen Police Training and Independent Review Act Would Require All Officers to Receive Specialized Sensitivity Training, Bill Also Encourages Independent Investigations in All Cases Where Police Use Deadly Force

Press Release

As the nation struggles to address the pervasive and dangerous gulf of mistrust between local law enforcement agencies and minority citizens, the mentally ill, disabled Americans and new immigrants, Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouriand Congressman Steve Cohen (D) Tennessee, are teaming up to introduce the Clay-Cohen Police Training and Independent Review Act of 2015.

"In the wake of Ferguson; Staten Island; Cleveland; North Charleston; and Baltimore, the urgent need to require all police officers to receive specialized sensitivity training in order to help them deescalate volatile situations is clearly a national public safety priority," said Mr. Clay. "This bill, which I am proud to coauthor with my good friend and colleague, Congressman Steve Cohen, would require sensitivity training for all police officers in the areas of race, ethnic bias, and interactions with disabled persons and new immigrants. It would also establish incentives to encourage states to adopt new laws that would require an independent prosecutor in all cases where police use deadly force. Both core ideas in Clay-Cohen address key recommendations from the Ferguson Commission and the President's Task Force on 21stCentury Policing."

"America received a sobering wakeup call last year in Ferguson, followed by others in Staten Island, Cleveland, North Charleston, and more recently in Baltimore," said Congressman Cohen. "The need for reform is as clear as it is urgent. Officers need better training. Excessive force must end. Justice shouldn't just depend on whether a bystander catches bad acts on video. Expecting local prosecutors to prosecute the same officers upon whom they rely to do their job presents a clear conflict of interest, and it is unnecessary. Congress must act, and I am proud to join with my friend, Congressman Lacy Clay, to bring fairness to our criminal justice system."

The new legislation would require all local law enforcement agencies who receive full federal Byrne-JAG funding to ensure that enrollees at law enforcement academies receive sensitivity training on ethnic and racial bias, cultural diversity, and police interaction with the disabled, mentally ill, and new immigrants…which mirrors a key recommendation from the Ferguson Commission. New police academy candidates would be required to complete a minimum of 8 hours of training while active duty police officers would be required to complete 4 hours of training on an annual basis.

The act would also incentivize states to adopt laws requiring independent investigations and prosecutions of law enforcement officers in cases where one or more of the alleged offenses involves an officer's use of deadly force in the course of carrying out his or her official duties. That concept, which Congressman Clay first called for in the aftermath of the tragic police killing of Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO.; directly addresses a key recommendation included in the final report from President Obama's Taskforce on 21stCentury Policing.

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