Laws Aimed at Fixing Policing Are Being Rolled Back After Police Complain It Hurts Their Ability To Catch Criminals

Two years after the death of George Floyd led to a nationwide movement and a wave of police reforms, the effort has slowed considerably.

According to the Associated Press, some reforms implemented in 2020 have been adjusted or rolled back after police departments complained it made their jobs harder. Additionally, while governors across the country signed police reform bills, many gave more protections to police officers.

An analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland states that across the U.S, governments collectively approved 300 police reform bills after the death of Floyd in May 2020 that affected police oversight, training, use of force, mental health diversions, and body cameras.

Examples include North Carolina, where a law passed giving officers the power to charge civilians who interfere with an officer’s duty but also created a public database of officers who are suspended or fired for misconduct. In Minnesota, where the reform movement began after Floyd’s death, neck restraints were banned, and officers are now required to intervene when they see a colleague using excessive force. The package also created a police misconduct database.

While many reform bills and laws have fallen short of the wishes of Black people and Democrats, they have served as a warning to police across the country that citizens are watching and recording them.

In Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee signed a comprehensive reform package banning no-knock warrants and chokeholds and enacting use-of-force requirements. Police officials in the state argued the reforms went too far.

“There’s just that atmosphere of emboldened criminals and brazen criminality, and people telling law enforcement, ‘I know that you can’t do anything,’ “Steve Strachan, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, told the AP.

Police across the country have been arguing the reforms are hindering their ability to do their job and are urging people to pressure legislators into reversing the bills and laws. The effort is disheartening for relatives of victims of excessive force and police misconduct.

“Any good the reforms that were in place did, they are going to try to undo in 2023,” Nickeia Hunter, whose brother Carlos Hunter was fatally shot by police in 2019, told the AP. “They are trying to roll back every gain that was made.”