Police Reform: Trump Signs Order Virtually Eliminating Choke Holds, Creating Database Of Bad Cops

With racial justice demonstrations still roiling American cities, President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order providing incentives to police departments to reform training programs and implement best practices to combat misconduct.

The signing comes amid a backdrop of recent killings of blacks by white police officers – the most recent Friday night when Rayshard Brooks was shot to death at an Atlanta Wendy’s -- and as Congress deliberates measures that would increase civil rights protections and make police officers more accountable for their actions.

In a Rose Garden ceremony, Trump signed an order he said would eliminate choke holds, unless an officer’s life was in danger. It also calls for creation of a database to track officers with histories of misconduct and uses federal grants to encourage higher certification standards.

“Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals. They are not mutually exclusive. They work together,” Trump said, adding, “That is why today I’m signing an executive order encouraging police departments nationwide to adopt the highest professional standards to serve their communities. These standards will be as high and as strong as there is on Earth.”

The order does not address allegations police treat people of color unfairly or penalize departments that fail to meet federal standards.

“Under the executive order I’m signing today, we will prioritize federal grants from the Department of Justice to police departments that seek independent credentialing, certifying that they meet high standards and, in fact, in certain cases, the highest standard — that’s where they do the best — on the use of force and de-escalation training,” Trump said, adding, “Under this executive order, departments will also need to share of information about credible abuses so that officers with significant issues do not simply move from one police department to the next.”

Trump again insisted only a few bad officers are responsible for the incidents that have prompted chants of “Defund the police” – a suggestion he denounced, saying Americans “demand law and order.”

"Without police, there is chaos," Trump said.

He said he had met with family of members of several black people killed by police before signing the executive order and assured them their “loved ones will not have died in vain” though he did not invite them to the signing ceremony.

House Democrats already have introduced a measure that would outlaw choke holds and make it easier for people to sue police while Senate Republicans are working on a less sweeping measure to be introduced by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the only black Republican senator.

Sometimes violent unrest erupted across the United States following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, who begged for air as a white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck.

“There will be no more looting or arson, and the penalty will be very grave for those who get caught. Violence and destruction will not be tolerated. We cannot do that. The looters have no cause that they’re fighting for — just trouble,” Trump said.