Washington: Following weeks of national protests since the death of George Floyd, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that he said would encourage better police practices.
But he made no mention of the roiling national debate over racism spawned by police killings of black men and women.
Trump met privately with the families of several black Americans killed in interactions with police before his Rose Garden signing ceremony and said he grieved for the lives lost and families devastated.
But then he quickly shifted his tone and devoted most of his public remarks to a need to respect and support the brave men and women in blue who police our streets and keep us safe.
He characterized the officers who have used excessive force as a tiny number of outliers among trustworthy police ranks.
Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals,” he said before signing the order Tuesday, flanked by police officials.
Trump and Republicans in Congress have been rushing to respond to the mass demonstrations against police brutality and racial prejudice that have raged for weeks across the country in response to the deaths of Floyd and other black Americans.
It’s a sudden shift that underscores how quickly the protests have changed the political conversation and pressured Washington to act.
But Trump, who has faced criticism for failing to acknowledge systemic racial bias and has advocated for rougher police treatment of suspects in the past, has continued to hold his ‘law and order.”
At the signing event, he railed against those who committed violence during the largely peaceful protests while hailing the vast majority of officers as selfless public servants.
Trump’s executive order would establish a database that tracks police officers with excessive use-of-force complaints in their records.
Many officers who wind up involved in fatal incidents have long complaint histories, including Derek Chauvin, the white Minneapolis police officer who has been charged with murder in the death of Floyd.
Trump said that, as part of the order, the use of chokeholds, which have become a symbol of police brutality, would be banned except if an officer’s life is at risk.” (ap)
