Constitution Subcommittee Ranking Member Applauds NY Governor's Decision to Have an Independent Prosecutor Investigate Police Killings
Press Release
Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, today applauded New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's executive order to ensure independent prosecution of police-related civilian deaths, and called on Congress to enact Police Training and Independent Review Act of 2015. Congressman Cohen introduced the legislation in May with Congressman Lacy Clay (MO-01, which includes Ferguson, Missouri) to help encourage incidents of deadly force used by police to be investigated and, if need be, prosecuted, by an independent entity as well as provide improved training for police officers. It currently has 35 cosponsors in the House.
"I am pleased to see Governor Cuomo take this important step to restore New Yorker's faith in their justice system," said Congressman Cohen. "Expecting local prosecutors to prosecute the same officers upon whom they rely to do their job presents a clear conflict of interest, and it is unnecessary. But this issue isn't unique to New York. We need to help restore faith in our criminal justice system across the country."
Currently, police-related civilian death cases are rarely prosecuted. An obvious conflict of interest exists between local police and the prosecuting District Attorney, who relies on a close working relationship with those same police officers to carry out other prosecutorial duties. The Congressmen's legislation would incentivize states to adopt laws requiring independent investigations and prosecutions of law enforcement officers in cases where one or more of the alleged offenses involves an officer's use of deadly force.
The bill directly addresses a key recommendation included in President Obama's Taskforce on 21st Century Policing's final report. (See Action Item 2.2.3 on p. 21). The New York Times and Washington Post editorial boards have also both called for independent prosecution of police-related civilian deaths.
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