SW La. group urging support for George Floyd Justice in Policing Act
Published 1:14 am Monday, April 26, 2021
Crystal Stevenson
The Southwest Louisiana Community Coalition for Action is imploring Louisiana Republican Sens. John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy to support the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act as a first step in changing the culture of law enforcement and building trust between officers and Black communities.
“The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act has to be passed,” said the Rev. J.L. Franklin, president of the organization. “The pace of injustice is too much for any of us. You look at police violence and it’s out of control, gun violence is never ending, the racism and bigotry are relentless.”
Franklin, whose brother is in law enforcement, said he is quick to point out the majority of police officers are not bad people.
“There are those who wake up every morning and go beyond the call of duty and do what their motto is and literally overextend themselves protecting and serving,” he said. “But then we have these minor traffic stops that end in death and that’s just horrendous.”
He said it’s “troubling” to be an African American in the United States right now because he feels everyday life is not valued.
“The Chauvin verdict, no doubt, is one battle, but the war continues,” he said. “This is not the end, it’s just the beginning.”
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes last May, was convicted this week of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Floyd’s death has spurred the largest civil rights protests in decades.
“I want to be clear that the fight for equality doesn’t end after a single conviction. We’re glad to see the justice system impart justice to a Black man, a Black family, the community and the world because we’re so used to the system betraying us. It was stunning to see that it served us.”
He said racism has created “segregation, concentrated poverty, poorly resourced communities and failing educational systems.”
“We need to be clear that we remember that the verdict against Derek Chauvin didn’t change a single police union rule that protects officers from incriminating themselves, it didn’t change a word in the criminal code which can shield them from prosecution, and most of all it did not alter a single federal or Supreme Court precedent that prevented them from being convicted.”
He said the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act will change that.
“It passed the House in March but it’s imperative it gets passed in the Senate because there are certain police techniques — including choke holds and other type of holds — that would be banned at the federal level,” Franklin said.
Negotiations have been ongoing between South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., who sponsored the House bill, but the group has not reached a compromise or made significant progress.
The House-passed bill bans choke holds, carotid holds and no-knock warrants. It also creates a database of police officers who have acted inappropriately in the line of duty. No Republicans in the House supported the bill.
“The bill also seeks to improve police training, which is very important and there are many things in it that would curtail reckless police officers who are ill-prepared to deal with African Americans and people of color when stopped for minor traffic violations.”
Franklin said more than 1,000 men have been killed by police since 2000.
“That’s a huge number,” he said. “Police are not above the law. They are designed to enforce the law and right now they need training.”
Franklin said he fears the day when his young grandson becomes a driver.
“We teach him to respect the law, respect the police, follow the rules when you’re pulled over, but we’ve seen excessive force used during traffic stops,” he said. “That makes me fearful for him.”
The Rev. J.L. Franklin, president of the Southwest Louisiana Community Coalition for Action
