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President Donald Trump unveiled executive actions addressing police reform on Tuesday, as protests against police brutality and racism have rocked cities across the U.S. in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
The executive order creates a tracking program for officers who have used excessive force; uses federal grants to encourage police departments to meet higher standards on use of force; and calls on law enforcement to involve mental-health professionals in certain cases.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Trump said he was signing the order “to deliver a future of safety and security for Americans of every race, religion, color and creed.”
The president also strongly criticized calls to defund police departments, saying “without police, there is chaos.”
Trump said chokeholds are banned under the order, unless an officer’s life is at risk.
Trump has faced pressure to address police reform since Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Congressional Democrats and Republicans are also working on their own proposals. A bill in the Democratic-led House of Representatives would ban chokeholds, among other measures. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the sole black Republican in the Senate, is writing the GOP’s package, which includes greater use of police body cameras.
