A. Legal and policy measures to be implemented

a.    Develop policies and support for legislation in line with the George Floyd Justice in Policing Bill, in relation to hiring or retaining law enforcement officers that would:

b.    Create a National Registry of incidents of the Use of Force, including all incidents of lethal and less than lethal means, including racial statistics of victims and perpetrators;

c.     Disclose the histories of law enforcement officers and use of force transparent to the public for use in hiring or other personnel decisions by law enforcement departments and in civil action against law enforcement officers;

d.     Apply the civil standard of proof to vet and discipline law enforcement  in suspension and dismissal proceedings;

e.     Disqualify applicants for law enforcement positions who have histories of any involvement in white nationalist supremacist militias or other similar racist organizations and require vetting of the background of recruits to exclude this possibility;

f.     Develop an early warning system to monitor those law enforcement officers who are developing a record of use of force, including but not limited to racially disparate use of force records, to discipline and remove them; 

B.  Addressing use of police force practices 

1.    Develop policies and support for legislation to de-militarize policing throughout the United States and accomplish a complete overhaul of current policies and  training practices including but not limited to the following:

i)   Outlaw Chokeholds or other tactics for subduing  that cut off breathing or blood circulation;

ii)  Outlaw the use of tasers/ stun guns at the stage of de-escalation in cases where the person is not armed, and in cases of mental health episodes. The use of tasers to be strictly regulated in consultation with medical experts, and only as a weapon of last resort used in a manner that does not endanger life, limb, or safety of the individual. The use of Tasers during peaceful demonstrations must be strictly prohibited;

iii)  Prohibit ‘No knock warrants’;

iv)  Outlaw use of force except in conformity with UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officers, strictly in accordance with the mandated principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, and accountability, including:

1.    Law enforcement officials in carrying out their duty shall as far as possible use non-violent means before resorting to the use of force or firearms and only if other means are ineffective or cannot achieve the intended result;

2.    Whenever the lawful use of force and firearms is unavoidable, law enforcement officials shall :

i)             Exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offense and the legitimate objective to be achieved;

ii)            Minimize damage and injury and respect and preserve human life;

iii)           Ensure that assistance and medical aid  are rendered to any injured or affected person at the earliest;

iv)           Ensure that relatives or close friends of the injured are notified at the earliest possible moment.

3.    Outlaw use of force except in conformity with UN Guidelines on Less Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement in arrest, custodial, and assembly, based on;

i)             Precaution;

ii)            Necessity;

iii)           Proportionality;

 3. Outlaw cavity searches; 

C.   Develop policies and support legislation to hold law enforcement accountable for their actions to address impunity and promote accountability by  implementing the following measures:

1. a. Independent investigations and prosecutions, including independent medical examiners for determining the cause of injury resulting in death;

b. Enact legislation to enable private prosecutions of officers at the instance of victims and victims’ families;

c. Eliminate qualified immunity;

d. Create mandatory civilian review boards with subpoena powers and the power to initiate disciplinary proceedings at State and Federal levels;

e. Institute mechanism to protect and persuade police officers to report abuse by other officers;

f. Require mandatory use of Body Cameras by police, law enforcement, and jail officials, and those performing similar functions;  and order that videos and all other evidence relating to the incident be made public immediately after incidents involving the use of force and killings by law enforcement, to ensure transparency, accountability, and public oversight;

g. Failure to use body cameras and/or attempt to conceal identification badges of officers shall constitute rebuttable presumption against the truthfulness of their evidence;

h. Decertify and disband any police union overtly or covertly interfering with investigations of police killings or use of force by the police department, or with the functioning of the  prosecutor or any other board or investigation appointed for this purpose;

i. Re-open investigations of cases that did not have independent investigations, prosecutors, or medical examiners available; and 

j. Reinstate pattern and practice investigations by the Department of Justice to develop consent decrees where necessary; with the ability to reopen cases where evidence suggests failures to properly investigate or prosecute offending police officers.

2. Develop policies and support legislation consistent with the goals of the ‘Breathe Act’ to create civilian forces with expertise to address community needs that are not appropriate for police intervention such as:

i) Incidents involving people in mental health crises;

ii) Incidents involving people who are homeless; 

4. Recommendations to the US Congress 

I. Pass the George Floyd Policing Act popularly known as the “Breathe Act“, passed by the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate.

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II. Pass legislation in addition to the George Floyd Act in relation to hiring and or retaining law enforcement officers that would:

a. Create a National Registry of Incidents of Use of Force, including all incidents of lethal and less than lethal means and including racial statistics of victims and perpetrators;

b. Make the histories of law enforcement officer’s use of force transparent to the public for use in hiring or personnel decisions by law enforcement departments and in civil actions against law enforcement officers;

c. Disqualify any applicant for law enforcement positions who have histories of any involvement in white nationalist supremacist militias or other similar organizations and require vetting of such applicants in order to screen out any person with such background;

d. Develop an early warning system to monitor those law enforcement officers who are developing a record of use of force; including, but not limited to racially disparate records of use of force, to remove them from the force.

III. Develop policies and support for legislation to demilitarize policing throughout the United States and to accomplish a complete overhaul of current policies and training practices, including but not limited to the following;

a. Outlaw chokeholds or other tactics for subduing that cut off breathing or blood circulation;

b. Outlaw excessive use of Taser/ Stun guns;

c. Prohibit "No knock warrants"; and

d. Outlaw use of force except in conformity with UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Fire Arms by Law Enforcement officials in keeping with the following norms:

 i). Law enforcement officials shall, in carrying out their duty, as far as possible, apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms. They may use force and firearms only if other means remain ineffective or without any promise of achieving intended results;

ii)  Whenever the lawful use of force and firearms is unavoidable, law enforcement officials shall:

1.      Exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offense and the legitimate objective to be achieved.

2.      Minimize damage and injury, and respect human life.

3.    Ensure that assistance and medical aid are rendered to any injured or affected persons at the earliest possible moment.

4.     Ensure that relatives or close friends of the injured or affected person are notified at the earliest possible moment.

5. Outlaw use of force except in conformity with UN Guidance on Less Lethal weapons in Law enforcement in Arrest, Custodial and Assembly, based on:

i.             Precaution 

ii.            Necessity 

iii.           Proportionality

iv. Pass legislation to hold law enforcement officers accountable for their actions:

a. The Commissioners identified some of the main barriers to tackling impunity for killings by law enforcement as:

i. The lack of independence of the initial  investigations, which in the majority of the cases are conducted by the same law enforcement department as that of which the alleged perpetrator is a member;

ii. The wide discretion of prosecutors to determine when and how to present charges;

iii. The fact that some federal, state, and county practices are not in line with international standards regarding the use of force as noted above.

iv. The existence of qualified immunity to shield officers from liability for their actions and 

v. Police organizations such as Police Unions, which pressure officers to withhold cooperation with investigations. Officers should know that they will not be punished by their peers if they show integrity by breaking what is known as the ‘blue wall of silence’.

b.The following recommendations are aimed at legislation that would overcome impunity and promote accountability:

i. Independent Investigations and prosecutions must be required, including independent medical examiners being involved in determining death and injury;

ii. Develop legislation to enable private prosecution of officers to be brought by victims and families of victims;

iii. Abolish qualified immunity;

iv. Establish civilian review boards with subpoena powers and the power to initiate disciplinary action;

 v. Create mechanisms to protect and incentivize law enforcement officers to report abuse by other officers;

 vi. Mandate use of body cameras and order that videos be made public immediately after incidents of law enforcement killings to ensure public oversight;

vii. Failure to use body cameras and attempts to conceal identification badges of officers shall constitute rebuttable presumptions against the truthfulness of their evidence;

viii. Decertify police unions that punish officers for cooperating with investigations of police killings;

ix. Re-open investigation of cases that did not have independent investigations, prosecutors, or medical examiners available;

x. Reinstate pattern and practices investigation by the Department of Justice to develop consent decrees, where necessary, with the ability to re-open cases where evidence suggests failure to properly investigate or prosecute offending officers;

xi. Pass legislation to implement the recommendations of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century policing;

xii. Pass legislation consistent with the goals of the Breathe Act to create civilian forces with expertise to address community needs that are not appropriate for police intervention such as in the case of:

  a. People in mental health crises;

  b. People who are homeless;