George Floyd: Biden signs Executive Order reforming police practices

U.S. President, Joe Biden, has signed an Executive order aimed at reforming federal police practices on the second anniversary of the killing of African American, George Floyd, by the police in Minneapolis, Minnesota during an arrest.

Biden, while speaking at an event from the White House, said that the order “promotes accountability,” with measures including the creation of “a new national law enforcement accountability database to track records of misconduct so that an officer can’t hide the misconduct.”

No chokeholds

The Executive Order bans chokeholds restrict no-knock warrants and tighten use-of-force policies to emphasize de-escalation, according to the White House.

Biden underlined the executive order applies directly to all federal law enforcement officers, whose number exceeds 100,000.

“Though federal incentives and best practices they’re attached to, we expect the order to have a significant impact on state and local law enforcement agencies as well,” he added.

The families of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who were killed in 2020 by officers executing a “no-knock” warrant in Louisville, Kentucky, attended the signing ceremony.

Floyd’s death sparked massive demonstrations across the United States in the summer of 2020 against police brutality and systemic racism.

“For many people, including many families here, such accountability is all too rare,” Biden said, calling on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which is stalled in the Senate, and send it to his desk.

Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who put his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, was convicted last year of murder and is serving his sentence in prison.

Three other ex-cops were found guilty in a federal trial earlier this year of violating Floyd’s civil rights.

A vigil in memory of Floyd was held on Wednesday night at the intersection in Minneapolis where the 46-year-old man died. Several other U.S. cities and places organized similar events.

Xinhua/Zainab Sa’id