12-08-14 Amended Council Agenda, Packet & Committee Meetings

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Civil Rights Coalition Urges National Reforms and Recommendations to Address Police ... Page 1 of 3 CIVIL RIGHTS COALITION URGES NATIONAL REFORMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADDRESS POLICE ABUSE A coalition of national civil and human rights organizations and leaders concerned about police abuse commends last week's announcement by Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. launching the Department of Justice's (DOJ) National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. The initiative will enlist a team of criminal justice researchers to study racial bias in law enforcement in five U.S. cities and will focus on training to reduce bias and ensure fairness in law enforcement. The group also applauds the federal investigation by the DOJ's Civil Rights Division of the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department following the August 9, 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed African American teenager, by a Darren Wilson, a white police officer. The weeks following Mr. Brown's death have seen protests, unrest and further police - related incidents in the area, underscoring a deep schism between the police and the communities they are supposed to protect and serve. Lawyers' Committee President and Executive Director Barbara Arnwine and Public Policy Director Tanya Clay House, originally convened 14 national civil and human rights organizations and leaders to issue a Unified Statement of Action to Promote Reform and Stop Police Abuse on August 18, 2014. Two of the coalition's recommendations have come to fruition: an independent and comprehensive investigation by the DOJ of Michael Brown's shooting death and the use of body -worn cameras by Ferguson police officers. The group continues to call for the use of police officer body -worn cameras nationally and commends the White House's recent announcement of testing of body -worn cameras by the U.S. Border Patrol. Notably, five additional groups, including the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and more than 340 independent signatories, have joined the open letter which was sent to the White House and the DOJ. The coalition is also encouraged by Attorney General Holder's emphasis on the need for diversity across police departments and his description of the proactive steps that the DOJ has taken to engage the St. Louis County Police Department during his remarks regarding the civil rights investigation. Yet while the investigation of Mr. Brown's death, as well as the racial bias study and its associated results are significant steps forward, the groups continue to call upon the DOJ, FBI, and police departments across the country to comprehensively address the ongoing killing of unarmed African American and Latino youth and adults by police and civilians alike that may have been motivated by racial bias, and to effect universal and long -term systemic reform to end police killings and the use of excessive force. In addition, the group continues to urge release of the federal racial profiling guidance, improved community policing, federal oversight of the distribution of federal weaponry and Congressional hearings on the use of excessive and deadly force by police. The coalition, which remains in conversation with the White House, the DOJ, Ferguson and St. Louis County officials, and community groups and leaders, will continue to closely monitor related police - involved shootings and brutality nationwide. Likewise, the group will remain a vital part of ongoing reforms, recommendations and actions. Cornell William Brooks, President and CEO, NAACP: http: / /www.naacp.org /news /entry /civil- rights - coalition- urges - national - refonns- and - recom... 12/l/2014