Is there a need for a national misconduct database? YES! Police records, including misconduct records, are still conficential in 23 states. Another 15 states have extremely limited access to police records and only in extreme instances. Only 12 states make police disciplinary records public. However, many of those states still make records of unsubstantiated compliants private. Therein lies the problem. What is considered unsubstantiated? Were the complaints really investigated? Police departments have proven time and again that they cannot and will not police themselves.
Many voices have expressed a need for a national police misconduct registry. In June 2020, Senator Cory Booker spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper and announced the drafting of legislation to create a national police registry for misconduct. Van Jones called for a national misconduct registry in his op-ed entitled Jury is out -- no matter the verdict, Congress must act. Representative Karen Bass, who helped draft the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021, is still expressing concern that there is not a national registry. These are just a few.
Yes, people are protesting. Yes, some politicians are trying to make a change. Yes, Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder George Floyd. But....
While the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 passed the House of Representatives on March 3, 2021, there is little hope of the legislation passing in Senate, even with Biden as President.
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