President Biden, in arguably the best part of his State of the Union address last week, appealed to a common sense of humanity for police reform. “We need to rise to this moment,” he said. He added, “We can’t turn away. Let’s do what we know in our hearts we need to do.”
In reality, the chances of reaching a deal with House Republicans on the issue are slim to none. But that does not mean reform is going nowhere. In fact, much is already being done to make police more accountable.
States and localities have the greatest role in policing, and they are proceeding with their own reforms. As of January 2021, the National Conference of State Legislatures reported, “Statutory law enforcement training requirements are in place in at least 48 states and the District of Columbia. These laws require law enforcement personnel statewide to be trained on specific topics during their initial training and/or at recurring intervals described by statute as in-service training or continuing education.”
Some training requirements are directly focused on the sort of abuses that have led to police killings. For example, the NCSL reports, “Tennessee requires law enforcement be trained annually on ‘proper procedures to respond to persons with mental illness’ and … 26 states mandate some form of bias reduction training.” Even deep-red Texas mandates anti-bias training and training on victims’ rights.
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In addition, more jurisdictions are rethinking policies around armed traffic stops. As the BBC reported, “Last March, Philadelphia began implementing new rules mandating that drivers can no longer be stopped for minor infractions, such as missing brake lights or items hanging from the rear view mirror.” Los Angeles rolled out a similar rule, limiting police from using minor violations to investigate drivers for more serious crimes (known as “pretextual stops”). The result was startling: a more than 40 percent drop in traffic stops for minor violations. That’s a substantial reduction in encounters that could turn into tense situations.
Moreover, the administration is taking important steps toward reform even without Congress. Shortly after Attorney General Merrick Garland entered office, he repealed the previous administration’s block on consent decrees that the Justice Department could use to monitor and improve rogue police departments. The New York Times reported in April 2021 that the decision revived “one of the department’s most effective tools in forcing law enforcement agencies to evaluate and change their practices.”
In a memo to Justice Department officials, Garland vowed to “return to the traditional process that allows the heads of litigating components to approve most settlement agreements, consent decrees, and the use of monitors in cases involving state and local governmental entities.” He explained that these mechanisms apply in cases of ongoing, egregious or widespread violations of the law.
And the administration has followed through. Since Garland changed the Justice Department’s approach, it launched investigations into the police departments of Minneapolis; Springfield, Mass.; Louisville; Phoenix; and Mount Vernon, N.Y. Last year, the Justice Department announced that it reached a consent decree agreement with Springfield, which includes improving policies and training regarding use of force and accountability mechanisms for officers who violate those rules. The department also continues to monitor and enforce about a dozen preexisting decrees.
These actions have a much broader reach than the specific cities involved. Other jurisdictions will see the federal investigations and try to avoid similar fates. Such voluntary adoption of practices to prevent abuse is key to reforming police departments.
This is not to say that broader, federal legislation is superfluous. To the contrary, the nationalizing of best practices, such as banning choke holds and rolling back qualified immunity, is likely needed to see significant improvement.
While it is difficult for the media to break free of their hyper-focus on the president and Congress, the day-to-day work of reforming police goes on every day. With the right leadership, the entire country might enjoy substantial improvement.