As Congress continues to reform the police force, Democratic agents are warning lawmakers to refrain from any defund-the-police rhetoric as it could harm them in the meantime.
Why it matters: President Biden and his fellow Democrats say Congress should pass the George Floyd Policing Act, which would ban chokeholds, ban no-knock orders, and generally make it easier to hold officers accountable for misconduct.
- Following Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict, Senator Tim Scott (RS.C.) plans to resubmit his police reform bill or similar proposal in the coming weeks.
- But behind the scenes, it’s not clear that an agreement on comprehensive legislation is imminent, Axios’s Alayna Treene writes.
The big picture: While opinion polls suggest that the George Floyd legislation passed by Parliament is broadly popular, the nuts and bolts of changing the way police forces operate will take place at the local level.
- Calls from activists to “defund” police forces could hurt – and have hurt – Democrats in tight-knit races, said Celinda Lake, a pollster who does work for the Democratic National Committee.
- “Voters want change,” she told Axios. “We need to clearly define what change we are for.”
- “You have voters who don’t want to ‘defend the police,’ but they do want change in the police force,” she said.
- “When individual politicians are accused of wanting to defend the police, unless they really come out aggressively to determine what they are for, this tends to have an impact.”
Flashback: After Democrats lost seats in the House in November, some centrist lawmakers like Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) The anti-police rhetoric to blame.
- “We [need to] look at the things that [the Republicans] about us, ”Spanberger said during a heated conversation with House Democrats, according to audio obtained by the Washington Post. “Because it works.”
- Not all centrists are concerned about it.
- “When it comes to social justice issues, it goes well beyond politics,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) Wednesday at Axios’ Kadia Goba. “It’s about people’s lives and making communities safe, and getting law enforcement officers the support they need.”
Go deeper: Some progressive Democrats, such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Wanting to go beyond the George Floyd Act and continue to defend the police – which could complicate democratic coverage.
- “Police in our country are inherently and intentionally racist,” she tweeted last week. ‘No more police, incarceration and militarization. It cannot be reformed. “
What we look at: Minneapolis City Council pledged to defun the police after Floyd’s death, but this has run into a series of roadblocks and uncertain public support, writes Nick Halter of Axios Local from Minneapolis.
- Mayor Jacob Frey (D) has opposed attempts to dismantle or defund the police and instead wants to reform the department. He is eligible for re-election in November, as are all 13 municipal councilors.
- Although Frey is seen as a firm favorite, many of the city councilors who made the pledge are being legally challenged.
It comes down to: “There is no doubt that Republicans are keen to place Democrats in the ‘defund / anti-police’ box,” said Matt Bennett, Third Way co-founder.
- “But it will be difficult to do that with current legislation.”