McSally Joins Scott to Introduce Police Reform Bill

Press Release

Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) joined Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) today in introducing legislation to reform policing in America and rebuild trust between communities of color and law enforcement officials.

The Just and Unifying Solutions to Invigorate Communities Everywhere (JUSTICE) Act would increase accountability and transparency in police departments across the nation through improved training and data collection.

"This bill contains commonsense solutions to move our country forward and improve community safety while providing critical training and equipment for those sworn to protect and serve," McSally said. "I'm grateful to Senator Tim Scott for his tremendous work on this legislation. On Monday, I spoke with police chiefs and sheriffs from across Arizona who are already using many of the elements in this bill. The JUSTICE Act ensures best training practices permeate police departments across America so every police officer understands their duty to intervene when a fellow officer is using excessive force. It's time to improve de-escalation training, root out the few bad police officers in our system, and support the many good men and women serving in law enforcement across this country. I look forward to working with my fellow senators to find common ground and get this bill passed swiftly."

"Now is the time for reform," Senator Scott said. "The murder of George Floyd and its aftermath made clear from sea to shining sea that action must be taken to rebuild lost trust between communities of color and law enforcement. The JUSTICE Act takes smart, commonsense steps to address these issues, from ending the use of chokeholds and increasing the use of body worn cameras, to providing more resources for police departments to better train officers and make stronger hiring decisions. I want to thank Leader McConnell and the entire task force not just for their hard work on putting this bill together, but for their commitment to finding real solutions."

The full text of the JUSTICE Act is here, and a section by section analysis is here. A summary is below.

Law Enforcement Reform

The JUSTICE Act strengthens the training methods and tactics throughout law enforcement jurisdictions, especially regarding de-escalation of force and the duty to intervene, providing law enforcement with new funding to do so, and will also end the practice of utilizing chokeholds
Additionally, the bill will reform hiring practices by providing more resources to ensure the makeup of police departments more closely matches the communities they serve
The JUSTICE Act also ensures when a candidate is interviewed, the department looking to hire will have access to their prior disciplinary records
Too often, after a tragic incident, we have learned the offending officer had a disciplinary past in another jurisdiction of which their current employer was unaware
Accountability

Studies show that when body cameras are properly used violent encounters decrease significantly
The JUSTICE Act will put more body cameras on the streets, and ensure that departments are both using the cameras and storing their data properly
JUSTICE also requires a report establishing best practices for the hiring, firing, suspension, and discipline of law enforcement officers
Transparency

Currently, only about 40 percent of police officers from jurisdictions nationwide report to the FBI after an incident where an officer has discharged his or her weapon or used force
The bill will require full reporting in these two areas
There is also very little data as to when, where and why no knock warrants are used, and the JUSTICE Act will require reporting in this area as well
Additional Steps

The JUSTICE Act will finally make lynching a federal crime
It also creates two commissions to study and offer solutions to a broader range of challenges facing black men and boys, and the criminal justice system as a whole

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