Trump Signs Executive Order Establishing Police Credential System to Track Force

President Donald Trump has made an announcement regarding mass demonstrations over the deaths of George Floyd and other black Americans. Trump announced that executive actions have been taken on police procedures, such as a police department credentialing system and a database, to track complaints against officers for excessive use of force.

Trump’s executive order, placed a ban on chokeholds, “except if an officer’s life is at risk.” He says Americans want more police accountability, transparency, and training. His order was about pursuing common sense and fighting for a just cause. Before this announcement, Trump had met with the families of several black Americans killed by the police.

He condemned the efforts to dissolve police departments and said there will be restructured “without undermining” law enforcement officers. This executive order is the first of a series of expected announcements by the Grand Old Party, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, stating that Republicans are developing a serious proposal to reform law implementation.

Racial conflicts have spread amongst protests calling for police to be defunded and opposing police brutality in the wake of the May 25 death of Minnesota man George Floyd.

Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, died after a white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes, despite Floyd saying he could not breathe. Recently, a 27-year-old black man Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed after an encounter with the police in a Wendy’s parking lot in Atlanta, Ga. This led to a renewed public outcry, more street protests, and chief of police resigning.

Democratic proposals, which are headed for a House vote next week, would see a limit to legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force encounters and ban police chokeholds, among other changes.

In this proposal, the civil rights law that governs police misconduct would no longer require prosecutors to prove that an officer’s actions were willful. It also covers the qualified immunity of the police from unnecessary lawsuits and gives the police freedom without fear of unnecessary retribution.