POLICE REFORM: Here are 10 of the country's top activists and lawmakers' ideas for police reform in America

Eliza RelmanJun 15, 2020, 10:52 IST

A police officer patrols during a protest in support of the Black lives matter movement in New York on July 9, 2016.KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images

Nationwide protests against racism and police brutality have heightened calls for national police reform.
Many activists and progressive lawmakers are calling for a national defunding of the police and the redistribution of resources to social services, including education and healthcare.
Democrats in Congress have crafted a sweeping bill that would boost police accountability and end certain controversial law enforcement tactics. The president is set to sign an executive order implementing some incremental changes.
Here's what 10 prominent activists, experts, and lawmakers are calling for.

Protests across the country sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd have heightened calls for national police reform.

Many activists and progressive lawmakers are calling for a national defunding of the police, and the redistribution of resources to social services, including education and healthcare. Some are calling for abolishing police departments altogether and replacing them with other forms of community protection.

House Democrats have put forward the Justice in Policing Act, the most sweeping set of law enforcement reforms proposed by Congress in recent decades, which calls for boosting police accountability and ending certain controversial law enforcement practices like chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases.

While a handful of congressional Republicans have voiced support for incremental reforms like banning chokeholds and mandating the use of body cameras, President Donald Trump has downplayed calls for sweeping change. Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Tim Scott and James Lankford, are reportedly set to unveil their own police reform proposal on Wednesday.

Some states and cities have already passed measures and repealed laws in order to overhaul local policing.

Here's what 10 prominent voices are calling for:

Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza is calling for national defunding of police and the reallocation of resources to social services, including housing and healthcare.

Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza Earl Gibson III/Getty Images

Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza is calling for national defunding of police and the reallocation of resources to social services, including housing and healthcare.

House and Senate Democrats are calling to ban chokeholds, end no-knock warrants in federal drug cases, and create a national police misconduct registry.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) joins fellow Democrats from the House and Senate to announce new legislation to end excessive use of force by police across the country. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Tim Scott, support significantly less far-reaching reforms, which they're preparing to unveil in new legislation this week.

Tim Scott (R-SC) speaks to reporters Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, wants to spend $300 million more on community policing.

Presidential candidate Joe Biden is seen on March 10, 2020. Matt Rourke/AP

Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, wants to 'stop the federal militarization of local police departments' and end no-knock warrants, like the one that led to Breonna Taylor's killing in Louisville.

Sen. Rand Paul Carolyn Kaster/AP

Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, wants to 'stop the federal militarization of local police departments' and end no-knock warrants, like the one that led to Breonna Taylor's killing in Louisville.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has joined protesters' calls to defund police departments and redistribute funding to social programs, including education, healthcare, and homelessness services.

FILE - In this July 26, 2019 file photo, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., attends a House Oversight Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Ocasio-Cortez says she wants to hear Democratic hopeful Joe Biden speak in detail on how to provide health care for everyone. The freshman congresswoman from Queens, New York tells The Associated Press that Biden is “struggling” with millennials and people of color and needs to describe how he'd preserve Medicare, for example, for people who won't need it for decades. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Associated Press

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has joined protesters' calls to defund police departments and redistribute funding to social programs, including education, healthcare, and homelessness services.

NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson wants to make 'significant cuts to the NYPD budget and reinvest that money in communities' and 'get cops out of schools, out of homeless services, and out of mental health.'

Getty

NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson wants to make 'significant cuts to the NYPD budget and reinvest that money in communities' and 'get cops out of schools, out of homeless services, and out of mental health.'

Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD Sergeants union, supports ending arrest quotas, expanding police departments' Big Brother Big Sister programs, and creating 'public service announcements' that 'explain what transpires during a police encounter.'

New York Police Department (NYPD) officers gather during a rally on May 31, 2020 in New York City. Protesters demonstrated for the fourth straight night after video emerged of a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning Floyd's neck to the ground. Floyd was later pronounced dead while in police custody after being transported to Hennepin County Medical Center. The four officers involved have been fired and Chauvin has been arrested and charged with 3rd degree murder. Justin Heiman/Getty Images

Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD Sergeants union, supports ending arrest quotas, expanding police departments' Big Brother Big Sister programs, and creating 'public service announcements' that 'explain what transpires during a police encounter.'

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, along with several hundred civil and human rights groups, is calling for eight key policing reforms, including a national use of force standard, a ban on chokeholds, and an end to racial profiling.

Vanita Gupta. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, along with several hundred civil and human rights groups, is calling for eight key policing reforms, including a national use of force standard, a ban on chokeholds, and an end to racial profiling.

President Trump is preparing to release an executive order that he says 'will encourage police departments nationwide to meet the most current professional standards for the use of force, including tactics for de-escalation.'

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

President Trump is preparing to release an executive order that he says 'will encourage police departments nationwide to meet the most current professional standards for the use of force, including tactics for de-escalation.'

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POLICE REFORM: Here are 10 of the country's top activists and lawmakers' ideas for police reform in America

Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza is calling for national defunding of police and the reallocation of resources to social services, including housing and healthcare.

House and Senate Democrats are calling to ban chokeholds, end no-knock warrants in federal drug cases, and create a national police misconduct registry.

Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Tim Scott, support significantly less far-reaching reforms, which they're preparing to unveil in new legislation this week.

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, wants to spend $300 million more on community policing.

Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, wants to 'stop the federal militarization of local police departments' and end no-knock warrants, like the one that led to Breonna Taylor's killing in Louisville.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has joined protesters' calls to defund police departments and redistribute funding to social programs, including education, healthcare, and homelessness services.

NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson wants to make 'significant cuts to the NYPD budget and reinvest that money in communities' and 'get cops out of schools, out of homeless services, and out of mental health.'

Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD Sergeants union, supports ending arrest quotas, expanding police departments' Big Brother Big Sister programs, and creating 'public service announcements' that 'explain what transpires during a police encounter.'

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, along with several hundred civil and human rights groups, is calling for eight key policing reforms, including a national use of force standard, a ban on chokeholds, and an end to racial profiling.

President Trump is preparing to release an executive order that he says 'will encourage police departments nationwide to meet the most current professional standards for the use of force, including tactics for de-escalation.'