Tonight, President Biden outlined the need to protect issues of core importance to millions of Americans, and particularly Black Americans. Reproductive rights, civil rights, civil liberties, and the foundational principles of equity are all on the line.
The President rightly acknowledged the historic funding invested in alternatives to traditional policing—through key community-led tools like trained crisis responders and community violence intervention—and that more must be done. In addition, we applaud the Administration for taking additional steps toward racial justice and equity, including ending the controversial Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) program that has perpetuated discriminatory low-level and pretextual traffic stops.
We strongly urge President Biden and Congress to do more to support legislation that reduces the footprint of law enforcement in support of policies that build stronger communities and invests in public safety alternatives that empower Black and brown communities.
That must include passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, an important first step to provide critical police accountability and transparency measures. Other important legislation that should be considered includes the People’s Response Act, which would create a holistic health-centered approach to public safety, such as federal funds to scale up alternative crisis response and the Counseling Not Criminalization Act to replace law enforcement in schools with mental health and trauma-informed services for children.
Additionally, President Biden and lawmakers must take more proactive steps toward regulating the use of artificial intelligence by law enforcement to avoid perpetuating biased policing practices and reinforcing inequitable outcomes faced by Black and Brown communities.
In pursuit of these comprehensive and common sense reforms, we look forward to continuing our collaboration with Congress and the Biden Administration to address these challenges and work towards a more equitable future policing in America.