AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)– A civil rights and police reform bill by Congressman Jason Crow, a Democrat representing Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, will take center stage at a hearing on racial profiling and police brutality at the nation’s Capitol next week.
The bill is named after George Floyd but Crow began working on it months ago with the mother of Elijah McClain, an unarmed black man killed by police in Aurora.
The legislation aims to diversify police forces and raise standards and training that minimize the use of force. It also creates a federal task force to investigate police misconduct and sets up a nationwide database to track stops by police and how race plays a role in them.
It also provides the department of justice with $25 million to enforce federal civil rights laws.
Crow said the goal is to rebuild trust between police and the communities they serve.
“We have to change the mentality around policing in America. For a very long time, the mentality has been, ‘What is lawful? What is legal? What is that line up to which you can go?’ But we have to change that so what it becomes instead is, what is the line that I can’t cross, to what is actually appropriate for this situation? What is going to help build trust, what’s going to help resolve the situation?” said Crow.
Crow’s bill would also provide a distinctive medallion for the survivors of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. He has more than 80 co-sponsors but none of them are Republican.
