WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESS OFFER MEASURES TO CURTAIL POLICE VIOLENCE IN RESPONSE TO ACTIONS BY FERGUSON POLICE

Political reverberations from the police shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson Missouri police continued to build this week, with a White House announcement that it supports requiring police to wear body cameras and the introduction, the very next day, of a House bill that would limit the transfer of military technology to police.

According to a 9/15/14 report in The Hill, a White House adviser responded to a petition on the White House web site that had acquired 155,000 signatures, stating White House support for requiring police to wear body mounted cameras.

The Hill quoted Roy Austin, a White House adviser on Justice and Urban Affairs, as saying “We support the use of cameras and video technology by law enforcement officers.” Austin explained the Department of Justice was continuing to research the best practices for implementation of the technology following a recent Justice Department report that concluded that police wearing body-worn cameras interacted “in a more positive manner” with civilians, and that the video captured by the cameras was also useful for training police officers.

The next day The Hill reported that bipartisan legislation sponsored by Tea Party republican Raul Labrador of Idaho and Representative Hank Johnson (D. Ga.) would curtail the Pentagons 1033 program, which arms U.S. police departments with surplus military equipment.

The proposal would bar the transfer of certain military equipment, including high caliber weapons, sound cannons, grenades, grenade launchers and some armored vehicles, and would include reporting requirements to ensure the equipment is not lost, stolen or misappropriated. In what looks to be a promising beginning 17 representatives immediately signed as cosponsors.

2 Responses to “WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESS OFFER MEASURES TO CURTAIL POLICE VIOLENCE IN RESPONSE TO ACTIONS BY FERGUSON POLICE”

1. harold says:

   September 20, 2014 at 9:42 pm

   “In what looks to be a promising beginning 17 representatives immediately signed as cosponsors.”

   This is politics, don’t confuse a promising beginning with a good ending.

   Reply
2. john says:

   September 20, 2014 at 6:09 pm

   Here’s a reasonable question. What did they think would happen when they authorized the DOD to give away million of dollars in military equipment to civilian police departments? Why does any police department need light or heavy armored vehicles, etc?

   Reply