Crapo Co-Sponsors Police Reform Bill

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) today became an original co-sponsor of the Just and Unifying Solutions to Invigorate Communities Everywhere (JUSTICE) Act.  The bill aims to rebuild the lost confidence in many institutions designed for the purposes of keeping communities safe. 

“The vast majority of law enforcement officers are hard-working Americans who put their lives on the line every day to keep their communities safe,” said Crapo.  “Unfortunately, we have seen several instances of horrific and inexcusable conduct by some very bad actors under the guise of law enforcement.  It is clear reforms are needed, as well as greater accountability and transparency, to help eliminate racial inequality and rebuild the trust all Americans deserve to have in the institutions designed for the purposes of keeping the communities in which they live and work safe.  I look forward to working with my colleagues on moving this legislation forward.” 

The JUSTICE Act focuses on three areas of long-term solutions, including reform, accountability and transparency.  The JUSTICE Act would: 

Law Enforcement Reform

• Strengthen the training methods and tactics throughout law enforcement jurisdictions, especially regarding de-escalation of force and the duty to intervene, and providing law enforcement with new funding to do so;
• Reform hiring practices by providing more resources to ensure the demographics of police departments more closely match the communities they serve;
• Ensure a hiring department has access to view all prior disciplinary records of the officer in consideration; 

Accountability

• Provide grants for more body-worn cameras, as well as penalties for failing to ensure correct usage;
• Require a report establishing best practices for the hiring, firing, suspension and discipline of bad-actor law enforcement officers; 

Transparency

• Require all police jurisdictions nationwide to report to the Federal Bureau of Investigations instances of use-of-force and discharge of an officer’s weapon; and
• Require new reporting on the issuance of no knock warrants. 

Additionally, the JUSTICE Act will make lynching a federal crime and will create two commissions to study and offer solutions on a broader range of challenges facing Black Americans and the criminal justice system as a whole. 

Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) introduced the JUSTICE Act this morning after yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examining police use of force.  Senator Crapo participated in the hearing. 

To view his question portion of the hearing, click here or the image above. 

 Text of the JUSTICE Act can be found here, and a section-by-section can be found here. 

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