Police reform bill collapses in US Congress, local leaders address the topic

DELMARVA – For months, police reform has been a hot topic, both nationally and locally.

But, Wednesday bipartisan negotiations in the US Congress over a police reform bill collapsed.

“So, it’s really disappointing that those talks fell apart, we believe that constitutional fair policing is not a partisan issue it’s something that Republicans, Democrats can get behind,” Mike Brickner, Executive Director of the ACLU of Delaware, said.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was introduced this year passing the House back in March.

Aiming to hold police accountable, end racial profiling, and more.

“The reason why Congress brought this up is because we recognize that we need to have standards that are true in Wilmington, Delaware as they are in Wilmington, North Carolina that we need to have something that is across the country,” Brickner said.

But, with the fall of this act, the Federalsburg Police Chief said an agreement may not have been reached on certain topics.

“One of the primary differences is qualified immunity standards, and Maryland did not touch that either, I know that they wanted to,” Chief Mike McDermott, of the Federalsburg Police Department, said. “I think that was a big stumbling block at the national level.”

Organizations like the ACLU of Delaware still feel there’s a sense of urgency to get reforms like this passed, especially since Delaware passed some police reform legislation.

“The ACLU and many other partners we pushed for police reform in the state legislature here and we had some really good success,” Brickner said.

On the other hand, Chief McDermott said while he knows there is a push for this type of legislation, officers have taken steps to be more efficient at addressing problems.

“We are all about accountability and trying to make ourselves more professional and a better more intelligent police force moving forward, to handle the problems that society brings to us every day, and we’re doing that,” Chief McDermott said.

And even with the act falling through congress, change is still happening locally.

“From a national perspective maybe if you’re in another state around us and you don’t see the reforms that maybe Congress wanted to do you can look at Maryland as a place where a lot of this stuff is taking place,” Chief McDermott said.

Worcester County Sheriff, Matt Crisafulli, said in order for police reform to be effective we must not initiate or pass legislation that is overreaching, causing law enforcement to be ineffective.

Adding, law enforcement accountability is extremely important, which promotes trust between law enforcement and our communities.

Sheriff Crisafulli also said it’s also important when legislators want to enact laws regarding law enforcement they must be willing to have an open dialogue with law enforcement leaders.