George Floyd Anniversary: Biden pushes for police reform; Signs executive order to reform policing

U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a broad executive order that aims to reform federal and local policing on the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd while urging a seemingly immovable Congress to act on police and gun reform.

The signed executive order is to reform policing and ensure “fair and impartial justice.”

The president invited Floyd’s family to the signing ceremony and the families of other victims of police killings.

Biden said, “It’s a measure of what we can do together to heal the very soul of this nation, to address profound fear and trauma, exhaustion, particularly Black Americans have experienced for generations.”

The American President added that it is a measure of what can be done together to heal the very soul of the nation, to address the profound fear trauma, and exhaustion particularly Black Americans have experienced for generations, and to channel the pain and outrage into a “rare mark of progress.”

The measure limits when officers can enter a property without knocking, including when that would pose an imminent threat of violence.

All federal agencies must participate in creating a database to help track records of misconduct. But the president can’t require local police forces to follow his order. Still, he’s encouraging them to make similar changes.

The order directs all federal agencies to revise their use-of-force policies, create a national registry of federal and local officers fired for misconduct, and use grants to encourage state and local police to ban chokeholds and neck restraints unless deadly force is required.

It has been two years since the murder of a Black man by a white police officer sparked protests across the US and around the world. Americans are revisiting the debate over addressing police brutality and racism, following George Floyd’s death.

Floyd died after former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than 9 minutes.

The murder revived the Black Lives Matter movement and amplified calls for police reform. The president’s order directs all federal agencies to ban chokeholds and neck restraints unless deadly force is authorized.