Response from my Congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky (9th District, Illinois):

Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about police violence, brutality, and lack of accountability. I appreciate hearing from you, and I agree with you.

Our country is still grieving the loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the thousands of other Americans killed by police. We must put a stop to this state sanctioned violence and restore the public’s trust and safety. To do this, I believe we must transform the way the police interact with communities and enhance police accountability and transparency.

For that reason, I am an original cosponsor of H.R. 7120, the Justice in Policing Act. This bill was introduced by the Congressional Black Caucus and House Judiciary Committee on June 8th and is a critical first step in holding police accountable and ending police brutality, racial profiling, and misconduct. This bill would prohibit law enforcement from racial, religious and discriminatory profiling; ban chokeholds, carotid holds, and no-knock warrants at the federal level; demilitarize state and local law enforcement; mandate dashboard cameras and body cameras for police officers; and create a National Police Misconduct Registry to prevent officers who abuse their power from moving to another jurisdiction.

The Justice in Policing Act also ends qualified immunity for law enforcement to make it easier for individuals to hold them accountable; reforms the federal use of force standard to ensure deadly force is only used as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted; and creates a program for community-based organizations to create local commissions to re-imagine and develop concrete, just, and equitable public safety approaches. Finally, it improves the use of pattern and practice investigations at the federal level by granting the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice subpoena power, and establishes a federal taskforce to coordinate the investigation, prosecution, and enforcement efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement misconduct cases. I will work with the bill’s sponsors to ensure it is passed as soon as possible.

I am also proud to cosponsor Rep. Pressley and Rep. Amash’s H.R. 7085, the Ending Qualified Immunity Act that removes the defense of qualified immunity for officers who violate the law. This will make it easier to individuals who have their civil rights violated by police to hold them accountable and get relief. Finally, I am an original cosponsor of Rep. Barbara Lee’s new resolution that would create a Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation. This Commission would examine the effects of slavery, institutional racism, and discrimination against people of color, and how our history impacts laws and policies today. It is well past time that we come together as a nation and fully acknowledge and understand how our history of inequality continues today, so that we can permanently eliminate persistent racial inequities.

While these bills are an important step, the work does not end there. I will continue to advocate for policies that will help end systemic racism and shift our approach to public safety away from exclusive investments in criminalization and policing toward investments in education, health care, economic opportunity, and other public benefits.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me on this very serious issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if I can be of further assistance in the future.