During these unprecedented times we have seen lots of police brutality, especially most recognizable the one on May 25, 2020 where a Police officer murdered innocent man George Floyd. Throughout history, Police officers and Government officials have killed innocent lives and faced ZERO consequences.

“Of the 7,666 times that police officers killed people in the U.S. between 2013 and 2019…

  • 25 (0.3%) resulted in a conviction
  • 74 (1.0%) resulted in a charge but no conviction
  • 7,567 (98.7%) resulted in NO charges whatsoever”

The purpose of the Police Accountability Act of 2020 should be to enhance the accountability of police by:

  1. Establishing a transparent and independent committee that handles the investigation of complaints involving police members in a timely manner
  2. Reforming the criminal justice in the department of public safety to reduce police brutality and/or excess police force.

One of the major concerns with the purposed Police Accountability Act is the fear that this Act may prevent the peace officers from carrying out their jobs, thereby resulting in an increase in crime rates. However, this concern is mostly irrational because the Act aims to hold people accountable ONLY when they violate people’s rights.

At present, police immunity laws allow officers to get away from committing wrongdoing, including racial profiling and police brutalities. The victims of police brutality typically have to go through civil settlements, much of which is not efficient because it not only creates the issues of access to justice but also costs taxpayers and municipal insurers billions of dollar. For example, a police misconduct resulting in $1.37 million settlement in Inkster, Michigan directly forced the city to increase the property taxes in 2015. This Act would give the Justice of Department authority to bring charges against a police officer who abuse their power. This in turn would directly force police departments to impose appropriate policies/training to prevent police brutality from even occurring on the first place, thereby creating a more efficient and cost-effective strategies for enhancing the accountability of police.

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