Trump Announces US Police Reform That Would Ban Chokeholds Unless Officer's Life in Danger
US President Donald Trump has announced the signing of an executive order that will oversee the introduction of a police reform bill.
The executive order will mark the start of the White House’s efforts to deal with the excessive use of force by police. According to media reports, it will order the creation of a system tracking the misconduct of specific officers and lay out methods to incentivise police departments to use social workers and mental health professionals.
US President Donald Trump has announced the signing of an executive order that will oversee the introduction of a police reform bill. The bill seeks to prevent a repeat of events like the recent killing of African-American man George Floyd and to address the mounting criticism against the perceived excessive use of force by some police departments.
Among the measures proposed in Trump's bill is a much-requested ban on the use of chokeholds by police unless an officer's life is in danger. POTUS also announced that efforts will be made to develop new advanced and less lethal weapons for police to prevent fatal "interactions".
The bill also suggests introducing federal grants for police departments that uphold high standards in certifying their officers and invest heavily in training them in de-escalation techniques. Trump argued that instead of giving in to the demands of "radicals" to defund and dismantle the police, the US will instead be supporting the "brave men and women in blue" while resolving the current issues.
We will prioritize federal grants from the Department of Justice to police departments [which] seek independent credentialing and certifying that they meet high standards and in fact in certain cases the highest standards [...] on the use of force and de-escalation", Trump said.
Apart from this, the reform promotes the idea of creating a federal database that would track the history of abuse of every police officer. Trump explained that it would prevent abusive officers from simply moving between police departments after each incident.
In line with earlier media reports, Trump's reform also incentivises police departments to resort to using social workers as co-responders in some situations, such as in cases of substance abuse. Departments using such workers will be further subsidised by the government following the reform.
Trump's proposed reform ignores the key demand of the Black Lives Matter protesters to "defund" the police, but goes in line with some suggestions previously raised by Democratic lawmakers. The demands were spurred following demonstrations against police brutality and negligence towards the lives of black people. The protests were sparked by the death of George Floyd, who died while being held in chokehold by a Minneapolis police officer.
Source: sputniknews.com
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Today we sign the Treaty on Deepening and Expanding Allied Relations, a historical document, which will give a new impulse to the development of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz ties," the Kazakh President said.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev thanked Sadyr Zhaparov and the people of Kyrgyzstan for the humanitarian aid sent due to the massive floods in several regions of Kazakhstan. He pointed out dynamic development of the bilateral contacts. In his opinion,active political dialogue, close intergovernmental and interparliamentary ties give a special impulse to the relations.
Our bilateral trade and economic cooperation strengthens year by year. Last year, commodity turnover reached $1.5 billion having increased by 26%. We set a goal to raise this indicator to $2 billion. A number of promising projects are implemented in this area. In whole, the agreements in trade-economic sector are fulfilled," the Kazakh President noted.
Special attention was given to the expansion of cultural and humanitarian ties.
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Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized he highly values the personal contribution of Sadyr Zhaparov to strengthening the traditional friendship and good-neighborly relations.
The President of Kyrgyzstan thanked Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for hospitality.
Kazakhstan is our close partner, fraternal nation and one of the major trade partners. Kazakhstan is a priority in our foreign policy. There are no politcal or regional disputes between our countries. Since the first days of my presidency, you have constantly supported me in international structures and issues related to the expansion of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz relations. We are ready to provide all possible assistance to the fraternal Kazakh people in flood relief efforts. Our countries enjoy centuries-long friendship, fraternity, good-neighborly relations, common culture, spirituality and religion. I am confident that our mutual cooperation, strategic partnership will strengthen further," said Sadyr Zhaparov.
The sides also discussed the issues of enhancing interaction in political, transport-transit, energy spheres, as well as regional and international agenda.
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Armenia is an important partner for Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
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Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan, Kazinform News Agency learnt from the Akorda press service.
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Olzhas Bektenov pays working visit to Bishkek
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On the instructions of the Head of State, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov made a short-term working visit to the Kyrgyz Republic, primeminister.kz reports.
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President Tokayev visits historic sites of Khiva
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As part of his working visit to Uzbekistan, Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited the Itchan Kala settlement, located in the historic center of ancient Khiva. The Kazakh leader was accompanied by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Kazinform News Agency cites Akorda.
Itchan Kala is the first monument to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in Central Asia.
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Kazakh-Uzbek tandem is a vital need, says President Tokayev
Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held an informal meeting in Khiva, Uzbekistan, Kazinform News Agency cites Akorda.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Shavkat Mirziyoyev discussed further enhancement of Kazakh-Uzbek strategic partnership and alliance.
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Olzhas Bektenov meets with Chairman of XUAR People's Government of China Erkin Tuniyaz
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The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov met with the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the CPC XUAR China, Chairman of the People's Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China Erkin Tuniyaz, who arrived on a visit to Astana to participate in the second forum of exporters to participate in the second forum on "New approaches to the development of trade relations between Kazakhstan and China", primeminister.kz reports.
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