told stories project at the
university of St. Thomas in
Minnesota.
And now, geoff Bennett has a
closer look at the president's
executive order on policing.
>> Judy, the president's
executive order, among other
actions, revises use-of-force
policies for federal law
enforcement and creates a
national registry of officer
misconduct.
It also encouages local agencies
to change their practices
regarding use of force and
no-knock warrants.
To discuss what kind of effect
these changes could have, I'm
joined by Christy Lopez of
Georgetown law school.
She worked at the justice
department to change police
practices.
And she led the department's
work on reforming the Ferguson
police department.
It is great to have you with us
this executive order instructs
federal law enforcement agencies
to revise some of their
policies.
The president can't order local
police agencies to follow suit.
He does not have the authority.
The white house hopes that this
could be a blueprint.
Is that an effective approach?
Christy: I think it is.
It is the most you can do at the
federal level to regulate
policing which is so state and
locally regulated in the united
States.
And these are strong federal
standards.
They have the potential to be --
geoff: On all the reporting that
I have done, I get the sense
that these policies mean one
thing on paper, but if they do
not make their way into the
culture of a police department,
they are effectively
meaningless.
Christy: I think you have hit on
the key question.
These are just words on a page.
What is going to be really
important is for there to be the
political will at the state and
local level to follow through on
these measures.
That will require people,
advocates, people who care about
effective policing to keep doing
the work they have been doing so
state and local agencies will
actually avail themselves of the
resources this executive order
makes available.
Geoff: This order directs the
justice department to create a
new national law enforcement
echo debility database which
would keep track of
substantiated misconduct claims
and disciplinary records of
officers.
The idea is to prevent officers
who are fired for misconduct in
one jurisdiction from finding
jobs someplace else.
There is already a privately run
database, only about one third
of police departments ever check
it when hiring new officers.
How will this new system be
different or more effective?
Christy: I think this new
database, and I do think it is
an important database, having it
be run through the government
rather than a private entity
will elevate its status.
People's knowledge about it.
It should result in more
agency's putting information
into it and agencies checking it
before they hired an officer.
There will be incentives.
It requires incentives to
provide agencies technical
assistance and guidance on how
to use this database, as well as
another database that is in the
executive order, which has the
potential to be quite important.
Geoff: The president is signing
this executive order because his
overhaul, the sweeping police
reform pushed fell apart because
it was blocked by Republicans in
congress.
On the executive order, the
white house says it consulted
with Progressive activists, and
it consulted with law
enforcement groups.
The international association of
chiefs of police and the
fraternal order of police put
out statements in support of
this executive order.
There will be people who see
that and say there is no way
this executive order can be
significant if you have law
enforcement coming out in
support of it.
What do you say to that?
Christy: I understand that
argument and that concern.
I have looked at this language
and I think there is some really
important stuff in here.
Part of the reason law
enforcement is signing on as
because they are feeling the
political pressure at the state
and local level to support
efforts like this.
Is going to mean that people
need to work together to make
sure the words on the page are
implemented.
I think that is what is going to
be key.
If they look at what is in the
order, I think they will see for
themselves that it is said --
that it is significant.
Despite the fact that so many
law enforcement agencies signed
on.
Geoff: I just want to draw on
your personal experience working
at the doj and reforming the
Ferguson police department.
What three or four things to do
pull from that that might be
instructive for other police
agencies that might want to take
a deeper look at their own
practices?
Christy: One of the things that
is really important is actually
the technical assistance that
the executive order requires be
provided to departments,
creating alternative responders
for persons and mental health
crisis.
I think that's going to be a
potentially really important
part of this.
I think the provision requiring
training on active bystander
ship and de-escalation could be
very important.
And I think the provisions
around data collection and
transparency have the potential
to be transformative as well.
Geoff: Georgetown law school
professor Christy Lopez, thank
you for your time and your
insights.
Christy: Thanks so much.