LANSING, Mich., June 10, 2021 — House Democrats announced the Justice for All police accountability bill package this week, led by the Detroit Caucus and the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus. As a sponsor of a resolution in the package, State Rep. Julie M. Rogers (D-Kalamazoo) released the following statement:
“This week, I was incredibly moved and honored to stand with Breonna Taylor’s family and listen to them speak about her life and the incredible human being she was. Their words renewed a deep sense of urgency. Our justice and law enforcement system needs immediate, transformational change. The repeated injustices to our Black and Brown communities are intolerable, and it is beyond time to act. Although seeming to reach a tipping point last year, deadly use of force and police brutality have been a serious problem in the United States for decades. Make no mistake, it will not stop unless the policing culture is reformed from the top down, and I think many officers would agree that we must work together for change.
“I am proud to stand with my colleagues from the Detroit Caucus and the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus to introduce important policies on accountability. I also introduced a resolution in the package to urge the Congress of the United States to enact policing reforms to mandate anti-bias training, ban carotid holds and chokeholds, require the use of other de-escalation methods before use of deadly force, require body cameras, and address qualified immunity for law enforcement officers, among other initiatives. Policing practices should protect the rights of all Americans. Being Black in America should not be treated as a crime.”
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