Donald Trump's been laying out ideas for
police reform he gave a speech at the
White House yesterday not for the first
time he was tweeting law and order he
does this every so often does it in
capital letters always today though he
was saying this Americans also believe
we must improve accountability increase
transparency and invest more resources
in police training recruiting and
community engagement and this is how the
president's planning to do that today
I'm signing an executive order
encouraging police departments
nationwide to adopt the highest
professional standards to serve their
communities these standards will be as
high and as strong as there is on earth
well the president didn't take any
questions after that statement but there
are plenty of questions to be asked
about exactly what this means in
practical terms and when it all might
happen we know his plans include banning
chokeholds unless an officer's life is
at risk
offering federal grants to improve
police practices that would include a
database to trace officers with
complaints against them and encouraging
the deployment of social workers
alongside officers to deal with non
violent scenarios such as drug use and
homelessness well let's have a look at
some of the reaction to this the
Democrat Chuck Schumer minority leader
in the Senate says this will not deliver
the comprehensive meaningful change and
accountability in our nation's police
departments that Americans are demanding
for Neetu Gupta a civil rights lawyer
who is acting assistant attorney general
under President Obama says the executive
order is an attempt to shift focus from
the dangerous rhetoric and policies the
president has previously promoted and
goes on a piecemeal effort that won't
achieve the transformative change needed
to heal America and this is the reaction
of a woman called kimberlé crenshaw
she's a civil rights advocate she
started to say her name campaign which
you may have heard of it highlights
black women who've been killed by US
police and this is her reaction this is
a president that himself led an attack
on peaceful protesters just a couple
weeks ago in order to stage a photo-op
so the idea that suddenly he is now in
front of this issue I think really shows
just how much power is coming from the
streets upward now let's not forget at
the same time that the one thing that
this president has said is not on the
tape on is probably one of the most
important things that can be done is
lifting the qualified immunity that so
many police officers have that makes it
so difficult to actually seek
accountability through suing them well
president Trump also met privately with
families who've been affected by racial
and police violence here's what he said
about doing that many of these families
lost their loved ones in deadly
interactions with police to all of the
hurting families I want you to know that
all Americans mourn by your side your
loved ones will not have died in vain
well Anthony cerca was watching that in
Washington here's his reaction it's a
reflection of the breath of popular
support for some sort of police reform
nationwide that he has decided to take
these these actions you have to remember
however that what he's putting forward
in this executive order their guidelines
the recommendations or things that he's
encouraging police departments across
the country to cooperate with and if
they do so then they will be prioritized
with existing federal grant money so you
couldn't say the chokehold ban these not
outlined chokehold across the United
States he's saying police departments
should do that and if they do outlaw
chokehold
then they will give and be given access
to a large pool of federal money that is
available for a law enforcement that
Congress has already authorized now we
should say some changes have already
been implemented in parts of the u.s. in
Minneapolis for example council members
have announced plans to dismantle the
police department San Francisco Los
Angeles New York and Chicago or among
other cities that have pledged to reform
their use of force policies and to take
further measures to root out racist
officers and there's been a particular
focus on Atlanta after Rashad Brooks an
African American man was shot dead
by a white officer last week the city's
mayor Keisha Lance bottoms also wants
changes on when lethal force can be used
and that includes a duty to intervene if
a police officer sees misconduct by a
colleague here's more of what the mayor
said I know that it is my responsibility
as mayor of this great city for us to
continue to work to put that anger and
that sadness into action now one place
that's become somewhat of a case study
for police reform is Camden in New
Jersey it dismantled its police force
and started again and the city now has
its lowest crime rate in 50 years
the BBC's nether topic has been there to
find out more halfway between New York
City and Washington DC Camden was
infamous as America's poorest and most
crime-ridden City now it's gaining
national attention for the way it's
rethinking policing in 2013 the city's
police department was disbanded one of
the officials that led the county
takeover was Luca Pelle he says it took
bipartisan cooperation perseverance and
a willingness to go to battle with the
police unions oh it was a big fight and
we were told all along until the day
this happened you're not going to be
able to do this we're gonna stop you in
court they had political the trying to
get political support people coming to
our meetings death threats captains
Hakeem James was hired back onto the new
force as a black man
he says he's had negative interactions
with the police it's one of the reasons
he became an officer in the first place
we train in de-escalation and that's the
key de-escalation in conversation it's
it's the focus of our department
building partnerships with the community
and that and other agencies we realized
that we couldn't arrest our way out of
the problem so we had to change our
tactics while community block parties
and policing alone can't solve racial
inequality Camden's officers are seeing
the value in redefining their job
description
nedda tell feet BBC News Camden New
Jersey
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