President Trump signs executive order on police reform.

President Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on police reform in the wake of the George Floyd riots and protests. The Hill. The order will tie grants and federal funding to deescalation tactics and bans on chokeholds, except in cases of justified lethal force. It will also create a database so the federal government can track excessive force complaints. The move was praised as a first step but critics say it doesn't go far enough. Both the Republicans and the Democrats are working on police reform bills, but the Democrats bill is a non-starter in the Senate as it goes after qualified immunity, which protects police from lawsuits over good faith mistakes. The GOP bill includes things like more funding for body cameras and punishment for not using them, with a similar structure for banning chokeholds. 

My Comment:

This seems like a good compromise position that rejects the more radical voices on the left while at the same time might actually do something about the problem of police brutality. The executive order seems like it would be a major positive and it should be praised as a good first step, and the more rational people on the left seem to agree. 

I do think that chokeholds should probably be banned. Though any physical conflict can result in death, a chokehold has an unacceptable risk of death. I am glad that Trump's order does have an exception for situations where lethal force is justified. If a cop has to choke someone out to save his own life or the life of others than that shouldn't be a problem, it's just when they are just trying to restrain someone where it isn't justified. 

Creating a database seems like a good idea in principal as well. I'm not sure how much of a problem it actually is but in theory a cop with a bunch of brutality complaints can be fired or quit and then get a new job without a problem. If those complaints are valid then yes, I agree that should be changed. I do worry about false complaints though as most cops get a lot of them regardless of their actual behavior. 

Execution might be a bit difficult. There are thousands of police forces in this country and that's a lot of data to collect. And it will take a long time to put a system together and I am guessing by the time it is the whole situation will be nothing but a memory for most folks. Still, as a solution it's not a bad one and one very few people will have an objection too. 

I have long said that mob outrage leads to bad laws and I think if the Democrats get their way we will get a very bad law. Getting rid of qualified immunity is a terrible thing as it means that pretty much every police department would be flooded with nuisance lawsuits. Plus, almost nobody would want to be a cop if they could be sued by everyone they arrested. It's a non-starter and the Republicans will never go for it. 

The GOP bill seems like it's better all around as it actually seems very tightly focused. The fact that Tim Scott, a black man, is taking the lead on it should help as well. I'm agnostic on body cameras as the quality is often bad and misses a lot. Video in general is treated with more respect then it deserves as, without context, it can mislead people. 

Will this finally quell the riots and protests? I kinda doubt it. Black Lives Matter was never really about police reform in general, it's just racial grievance with police reform as a shield. But I think outside of the radicals people will probably be happy with this and move on to other things. At least I hope so, the last few weeks have been exhausting.