On police reform, "the intent of this is we have to find a way to hold officers accountable so this type of behavior ends." In that regard, she's not yet convinced that Sen. Tim Scott's plan that immunity be lifted for individual officers and assigned to police departments is a good idea.
And she doesn't agree with Wallace that "if there's a bad cop, the department will get rid of them anyway," pointing out that disgraced officer and convicted murdered Derek Chauvin "had multiple complaints against him." She said the immunity issue wasn't a deal breaker, but "if Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott can show us some other way to hold officers accountable" she's willing to talk. She also noted that, had Chauvin not been convicted, it's possible the department could have been forced to take him back. That's not accountability.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Floundering for Relevance) was on the show before Bass; here's his asinine and childish response to Wallace's question on whether there is systemic racism in policing and in other institutions.
No, not in my opinion. We just elected a two-term African-American president. The vice president is of African-American-Indian descent. So, our systems are not racist.
Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't mention having black friends - it's about as relevant as what he did say. In response, Bass said "we have got to figure out a way to talk about race where we can talk about it objectively and people don't feel individual guilt.
You can look back at our history's laws and over time there were many laws that were put in place that were absolutely racist and over time those laws might have changed, but the conditions haven't changed. You can look at each of our institutions. Why is there such massive inequality when it comes to education, when it comes to health care? Why does that exist? And so, we have to figure out a way to talk about it. Right now, to say it doesn't exist does not help anyone.
And on policing, Wallace wondered if we needed to distinguish between police killing armed suspects moving to attack people and people who are killed by police in other circumstances.
We absolutely need to distinguish but we also need to look at policing overall. And one of the things that I hope we really address is, maybe the focus needs to be on de-escalation. I know police officers are taught to shoot to kill. A lot of people raise, well, why couldn't he have shot her in the leg, why couldn't he have done all these different things? The point is we have got to come up with a way to stop -- there are so many people being killed in this country.
Because yes, Sen. Graham, there are problems, and they are systemic, and they do need to be addressed. And us white folks will be better off, too, when they are.
Down the hall in the Face the Nation classroom, John Dickerson talked with Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He wondered if what's changed since the murder of George Floyd when it comes to protests. She mentioned our history throughout the 20th century of cases where unrest led to change (the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act and Fair Housing Act were three notable examples). Still, no police reform changes came out of all of that. People are fed up now, she thinks, and "that's a good thing," - it's been seven since Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, after all.
And there's been some tinkering around the edges. There's been some movement. The most powerful movement has been that the conversation has shifted away from talking about tinkering around the edges and modest reforms to radical changes and a radical envisioning of what public safety needs to become in this country.
In response to his ask for examples of change, not just 'tinkering,' among the examples she cited is one from my neck of the woods - the city of Ithaca, NY,
where the entire police department is being set down for a new community solution and public safety core. It will include some armed law enforcement officers, but it's focusing on the root causes of crime. It's shifting resources to mental health, to homelessness services, to youth services. And then it's focusing on what is it that you actually need armed police officers to do to deal with the most violent of circumstances.
She said that's a "re-envisioning" of public safety and what it needs to be; it addresses questions of whether "an armed constabulary" is needed to address things like a bad check, or a homeless person on your porch. We've been moving at a snail's pace, but that that's changing now, she added.
On the sentiment of police officers saying that they're dealing with communities that have been failed "by education, by the jobs system. There are guns everywhere..." and how that requires "a broader lens" when it comes to change, she agreed, saying having good relations with police, "it's not about having a pancake breakfast or playing basketball. It's about some real, honest talk."
That means police talking honestly about things like gun laws that make them nervous and that "endanger" them - but we don't hear about that, that's 'behind closed doors" stuff. And, she said, we haven't solved the community problems - education, and poverty, homelessness, and the rest - "we have just shifted all of the resources to deal with those problems into our criminal justice system." That's what we need to be talking about now, and what we need to be addressing now.
We need to be putting our resources and attention to those problems and not shunting them off to the criminal justice system and asking police officers, armed officers, to address issues that we have been too cowardly to address as a democracy.
That's a mic drop, as they say.
Quickly, Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), a former police chief, was also in the FTN classroom, talking police reform. Dickerson asked about progress on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House (Sen. Tim Scott is leading the Rs in the Senate). Demings said she thinks they're "closer than a lot of people realize" and said "I do believe we can meet this moment."
I am hoping that Senator Scott will lead his delegation, if you will, or the Republican members in the Senate to sit down at the table, finish the negotiations and let's get this done. George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is not perfect, but it is a major step in the right direction.
She urges her colleagues not to make this a political issue, noting historically the two parties have risen to the occasion, have met "that significant moment."
This is such a time. And so, I'm hoping that we will put politics aside and come together because we need to get this done. Our communities around the nation need it. Our good police officers need it, and quite frankly, the American people need it. We in Congress in both chambers can meet this moment as well if we have the political will to do so.
Finally, on how she'd talk to her officers if she were still a police chief, she said she has talked to some officers. She reminds them they must have the mind for the job, but also the heart for the job. And the reminds them about their training.
Utilize the training that you have, but also remember that it's human beings that you're dealing with and always have compassion for the community in which you represent. And, you know, the overwhelming majority of law enforcement officers in this nation are good people who go to work every day to protect those, protect and serve our communities. I remind them of that. Always stand on the right side, speak up, and be professional and do the job that you're paid to do.
That's pretty much it in a nutshell, isn't it?
See you around campus.
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