Norton Writes DOJ to Urge Establishment of Local Task Forces on 21st Century Policing Now, in Light of North Charleston Shooting
WASHINGTON, D.C.—After an unarmed man, Walter Scott, was shot and killed by a police officer in North Charleston, SC this past Saturday, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) sent a letter today to the Department of Justice (DOJ) requesting that it take immediate administrative action to "provide grants from existing Department of Justice (DOJ) funds to local governments to create local task forces on 21st century policing to bring police, community representatives, and public officials together to identify local policing issues and best policing practices." Norton has been considering a bill to establish such local task forces, but she writes, "as shooting incidents continue, action by the administration is necessary now." The grant program would use existing funds and not require new spending.
"As Saturday's killing in North Charleston, SC shows, the issue of racial profiling and police shootings of unarmed Americans is not going away and calls for an immediate response from the Department of Justice," Norton said. "Legislative action to establish a grant program for local police departments to establish task forces on 21st century policing, of course, would be appropriate, but we cannot wait while more lives are tragically taken."
The full text of the letter is below:
Karol Mason
Assistant Attorney General
Office of Justice Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
810 Seventh Street NW
Washington, DC 20531
Dear Assistant Attorney General Mason:
The killing of another unarmed black male, Walter Scott, who was shot in the back by a police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina on April 4, 2015, and similar events present an opportunity to encourage states and localities to begin implementation of President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing report (Report).
To encourage use by local communities of the Report, I have been considering a bill that would provide grants from existing Department of Justice (DOJ) funds to local governments to create local task forces on 21st century policing to bring police, community representatives, and public officials together to identify local policing issues and best policing practices. However, as shooting incidents continue, action by the administration is necessary now. I am therefore writing to request that the Office of Justice Programs use one of its existing grant programs to actively encourage local governments to create local task forces to make use of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing Report or take other appropriate action.
Instead of keeping the best practices documented in the Report on the shelf, DOJ grants could help local governments create task forces to encourage partnerships between local law enforcement and communities. After the recent incidents involving unarmed suspects, what were clearly long-existing tensions between local law enforcement and the local communities have erupted to the surface. Recognizing that most policing in the United States occurs at the local level, the goal should now be preventative steps to eliminate the killing of still more unarmed individuals in encounters with local police. The Report is replete with ideas that could be used by local communities today.
President Obama took prompt action after the Michael Brown killing by establishing his Task Force on 21st Century Policing. I urge the Office of Justice Programs to administratively establish a new grant program that would help local governments create local task forces to establish best policing practices and take badly needed preventative action.
I would appreciate a prompt reply.
Sincerely,
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Member of Congress
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