Biden unilaterally enacts police reform order, bypasses Congress, blames GOP

Biden signed an executive order on "Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety," with civil rights leaders, members of Congress, police officials, and the family members of those killed by police officers like the family of Floyd and Breonna Taylor were standing by him as he signed it.

The executive order aims to "increase public trust and enhance public safety and security by encouraging equitable and community-oriented policing."

It directs the Attorney General to share "best practices" in regards to a number of topics, including independent investigations on in-custody deaths, improving trainings for investigations into deprivation of rights under color of law, investigations into patterns of misconduct by law enforcement officers with state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies.

The order also aims to help with strengthening the recruitment, promotion, and retention of officers through addressing current policies and developing best practices for conducting background investigations of recruits.

It orders the Attorney General to establish the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, which will serve as "a centralized repository of official records documenting instances of law enforcement officer misconduct as well as commendations and awards."

Included in this database will be "official records documenting officer misconduct, including, as appropriate: records of criminal convictions; suspension of a law enforcement officer’s enforcement authorities, such as de-certification; terminations; civil judgments, including amounts (if publicly available), related to official duties; and resignations or retirements while under investigation for serious misconduct or sustained complaints or records of disciplinary action based on findings of serious misconduct."

The database will also include positive marks on an officer’s record, including officer commendations and awards.

The database does not appear to be required though, with the order stating that the Attorney General will "encourage" local and state law enforcement to use it.

The order calls for the heads of federal law enforcement agencies to submit data to the FBI National Use-of-Force Data Collection on a monthly basis, which will include information on when a gun is fired at a person, even if it doesn’t end in death or injury, serious bodily injuries, and any deaths that occur.

Federal law enforcement Agencies are also required to ensure that their policies meet the requirements of policy issued by the Department of Justice last year, which generally prohibits the use of chokeholds and carotid restraints except where the use of deadly force is authorized by law.

Much of the order pertains to federal law enforcement agencies or are posed as suggestions for local ones.

According to The Washington Post, Biden alone does not possess the power to enact many of the widespread changes that activists have demanded, like the removal of qualified immunity. Changes such as that would require a federal bill.

Other changes like stricter use-of-force policies or chokehold bans would require legislation at the state or local level.

Speaking before the signing, Harris noted that the vast majority of officers conduct their jobs with honor.

"The law enforcement officers of our nation — well, they swear an oath to protect and to serve, and the vast majority do so honorably. Yet we know, too often, when there is a use of biased policing and excessive force — when that occurs, it too often is not met with accountability, denying equal justice not just to individuals but to whole communities and, therefore, to our nation as a whole," she said.

Harris also noted the failed attempt to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was blocked by Senate Republicans last fall.

"They walked away from their moral obligation to address what caused millions of Americans to march in the streets: the critical need that a coalition of Americans were demanding, were pleading for, in terms of reform and accountability," she said.

While the order wasn’t the overarching legislation that activists have hoped for, both Harris and Biden stressed that it was an important step.

"We also know this executive order is no substitute for legislation nor does it accomplish everything we know must be done. But it is a necessary and long-overdue, critical step forward," Harris said.

"That’s why the executive order I’ll be signing today is so important, in my view. It’s a measure of what we can do together to heal the very soul of this nation; to address the profound fear and trauma, exhaustion that particularly Black Americans have experienced for generations; and to channel that private pain and public outrage into a rare mark of progress for years to come," Biden said.