Republicans, Democrats Working on Separate Police Reform Bills

In response to the recent protests, both Democrats and Republicans are now working on police reform proposals. Democrats unveiled their plans earlier this week which details numerous changes. The package, which was put together by Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, includes banning choke holds, creating a national police misconduct registry, racial bias training for officers, the requirement that federal uniformed officers wear body cameras, and more. Their hope is to vote on the legislation within the next two weeks. Many Republicans have expressed concerns over the democratic proposal, arguing policies should be on a state by state basis, so they have also begun to devise their own. It will be spearheaded by Ohio Representative Jim Jordan and help from South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. It’s not clear what it will include yet but, it was confirmed both Democrats and Republicans will be able to engage with each other’s bills in order to hopefully come to a bipartisan agreement. One thing both sides seem to agree on though, is they do not want to defund the forces.