Congressman Norcross Favors George Floyd Justice in Policing Act
Friday, June 26, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC (June 26, 2020)--– U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) voted yes to H.R. 7120, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed through the House of Representatives this evening. This transformative legislation reimagines the culture of policing in America with unprecedented reforms to build greater trust between law enforcement and our communities.
“I stand with my community and all those around the nation calling for justice following the senseless murder of George Floyd, along with real, meaningful change to the American policing culture and an end to systemic racial injustices,” said Congressman Norcross, a sponsor of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. “I’m honored to have sponsored this legislation and thank the Congressional Black Caucus for their leadership in advancing a bill that delivers the reforms needed to address systemic racism and save lives, while ensuring bad actors are held accountable.”
Norcross continued, “Back home in Camden, we saw our police department rebuild itself from the ground up, embrace new strategies and technology like body cameras, and become recognized as a national model for effective community policing. It was a collaborative effort at every level to reinvest in our community, and while transformative reforms are never easy, we in South Jersey know that by working together and always striving to improve, change is possible."
This sweeping legislation will take numerous key steps to achieve structural change to hold bad actors accountable and combat systemic racial injustice, including:
- Banning all chokeholds;
- Banning no-knock warrants in drug cases;
- Ending racial, religious and discriminatory profiling;
- Eliminating the qualified immunity doctrine that is a barrier to holding police officers accountable for wrongful conduct;
- Establishing a National Police Misconduct Registry to improve transparency and prevent problematic officers who are fired or leave one agency, from moving to another jurisdiction without any accountability;
- Requiring data collection, including mandatory body cameras and dashboard cameras;
- Establishing new standards for policing and the Public Safety Innovation grants for community-based organizations to help reimagine policing in their communities;
- Includes the Closing the Law Enforcement Consent Loophole Act of 2019 which makes it unlawful for a federal law enforcement officer to engage in a sexual act while acting under color of law or with an individual who is under arrest, in detention, or in custody;