Trump Signs Executive Order on Police Reform

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday designed to improve police training in the wake of the George Floyd killing. "Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals," said Trump. His order falls short of what activists have been demanding, reports the Washington Post, though more sweeping reform measures are working their way through the House and Senate. Some highlights of Trump's order, via the AP and USA Today:

• Database: It would set up a national database to more easily track abusive officers and ideally prevent them from being hired elsewhere.

• Training: It would encourage police departments to emphasize de-escalation training for conflicts, using federal grant money as leverage.
• More help: It would set up a "co-respondent" program encouraging police departments to work more closely with social workers on calls involving issues such as mental health, drug addiction, and homelessness.
• Chokeholds: Trump said chokeholds would be banned "except if an officer’s life is at risk," though senior administration officials clarified that the order prohibits chokeholds ”"except in those situations where deadly force is allowed by law." The holds already are widely banned in police departments, per the AP.

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