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21 Pillars for Redefining Public Safety and Restoring Community TrustPreamble The National Urban League’s 21 PILLARS is a comprehensive framework for advocacy that redefines public safety and restores community trust—paving a way beyond the status quo. Our forward-thinking plan centers on five key themes that are fundamental to the protection and preservation of life, dignity, and trust, while also building safer communities. We recognize that, first and foremost, community trust must be restored for true change to occur through truth and reconciliation and empowerment (Theme 01). Community trust goes hand-in- hand with accountability for those who have a duty and authority to protect and serve (Theme 02). We must work from the inside out to redesign public safety by uprooting divisive policing policies (Theme 03). Finally, though we recognize that change takes time, it also takes attention to detail and learning. Therefore, we advocate for transparency, reporting standards, and data collection (Theme 04). Standards for hiring, evaluation, and promotions in public safety must be refined and enhanced. (Theme 05). Public safety must be transformed, structurally and fundamentally. For too long the lives, safety, and freedom of communities around the nation, particularly Black communities, have been threatened by discriminatory and violent policing. Our communities deserve to feel safe in their homes, in their cars, and on their streets, including safe from police violence. The 21 Pillars is a vision of what is possible—a path forward. Public safety must be re-envisioned. The effects of unjust policing often reverberate beyond the criminal justice system, undermining social progress. The 21 Pillars take a holistic approach to public safety, the restoration of trust between communities and law enforcement, and a path forward for meaningful change. We encourage you to utilize our framework as a tool for your advocacy work on the ground—from grassroots organizing, to the legislative halls of government in cities and states, to the U.S. Capitol. Since 1910, the National Urban League has promoted economic empowerment and equity through education and job training, housing and community development, workforce development, entrepreneurship, health, and quality of life. Yet social parity, economic empowerment, and civil rights cannot be achieved in a world of unjust policing. Our 21 Pillars for Redefining Public Safety and Restoring Community Trust present solutions that will move us closer to a world where community safety is real, and not aspirational. 2 21 PILLARS3 NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE COLLABORATE WITH COMMUNITIES TO BUILD A RESTORATIVE SYSTEM ACCOUNTABILITY CHANGE DIVISIVE POLICING POLICIES REQUIRE TRANSPARENCY, REPORTING, & DATA COLLECTION IMPROVE HIRING STANDARDS & TRAINING Key Themes 01 02 03 04 054 21 PILLARS Collaborate with Communities to Build a Restorative System 01 PILLAR 01 EMPOWER COMMUNITIES TO RE-ENVISION PUBLIC SAFETY IN AN EQUITABLE AND JUST WAY Truth and Reconciliation: Find justice for over-policed communities by studying the complex and long history of racism and policing in the United States and leveraging findings to draw policy that reconciles the past with the present and future. Reinvest in our communities by supporting and funding asset-based approaches such as cure violence model and restorative justice programs, and social services that build upon existing assets and that address fundamental needs, including stable and safe housing, food, and job insecurity. Reinvest in our communities by supporting and funding the expansion of, and equitable access to, an excellent education, and substance misuse and mental health and wellness services. Change the culture of law enforcement response to crises by reorganizing response units. Establish public safety innovation grants for community-based organizations to create local commissions and task forces to help communities to re-imagine and develop concrete, just and equitable public safety approaches. Theme PILLAR 02 END BROKEN WINDOWS POLICING AND IMPLEMENT COMMUNITY POLICING MODEL Decriminalize and/or establish diversionary programs for low-level offenses, including drug possession, public intoxication, loitering, jaywalking, disorderly conduct, and sex work. Shift police time and public resources from these arrest-focused activities. Emphasize prevention and problem-solving over ticket and arrest quotas and criminalization. Reimagine evaluation metrics for officers to focus ratings on community engagement, community feedback, and social service referral, in addition to safety and case resolution metrics. Require collaboration with community members on decision-making, implementation, and evaluation of recruitment and hiring, training and all departmental policies, practices, and priorities. Condition federal funding to state and local law enforcement to establish community focused solutions.5 NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE PILLAR 03 PROHIBIT PROFILING BASED ON RACE, ETHNICITY, RELIGION, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, DISABILITY, OR IMMIGRATION STATUS Codify antidiscrimination policies at the state local level. Require the development of written bias-free policing policies with community input that provide guidance on bias-free policing, implicit bias, cultural competency, and procedural justice. The policies must include actual as well as perceived personal characteristics. Condition federal funding to state and local law enforcement to adopt policies to combat and discourage racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling. PILLAR 04 ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCING MENTAL HEALTH CRISES Invest in comprehensive crisis response programs that are responsive to overlapping public health and safety concerns. Establish state and local mental health and wellness advisory groups, staffed by safety personnel, social workers, and mental health providers. Require crisis intervention and de-escalation training for all officers, first responders, and public-facing staff. 016 21 PILLARS PILLAR 05 HOLD POLICE ACCOUNTABLE IN COURT End qualified immunity for law enforcement. Close the open legal questions that shield officers from accountability when they violate a civilian’s constitutional rights. Amend the federal criminal statute to change the mens rea requirement in federal law—18 U.S.C. Section 242— from “willfulness” to a “recklessness” standard to allow appropriate prosecution of an officer. Make it a crime for a federal law enforcement officer to engage in a sexual act with an individual who is under arrest, in detention, or in custody. Prohibit consent as a defense to prosecution for unlawful conduct. Incentivize states to set the same standards. PILLAR 06 PREVENT POLICE UNION CONTRACTS FROM BLOCKING ACCOUNTABILITY Remove all disciplinary matters from the scope of police union contract negotiations. Require community representation at police union contract negotiations. At the state level, repeal “Police Bill of Rights” laws. Stop police union influence over politics by limiting political contributions from police unions. PILLAR 07 INVESTIGATE POLICE MISCONDUCT Appoint fair and impartial special prosecutors to investigate police misconduct. Fully utilize the use of pattern and practice investigations of police departments. Grant the Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division subpoena power and enhance funding for such investigations. Establish a DOJ task force to coordinate the investigation, prosecution, and enforcement efforts of federal, state, and local governments in cases related to law enforcement misconduct. On the state level, create a grant program for state attorneys general to develop authority to conduct independent investigations into problematic police departments. PILLAR 08 CREATE OR STRENGTHEN INDEPENDENT ALL-CIVILIAN COMMUNITY-BASED REVIEW BOARDS WITH FINAL AUTHORITY Create diverse community-based review boards that receive, investigate, and resolve all civil complaints of police misconduct. Require all review boards, police departments, and other law enforcement agencies to abide by a uniform discipline matrix with standardized penalties. Ensure boards have adequate funding and subpoena and administrative prosecutorial powers that will enable them to investigate complaints, advise on needed policy changes, and serve as the final determinant on officer discipline thoroughly and independently. Accountability02 Theme Source: Washington Post reporters requested the names of officers who were terminated and those who were reinstated after they contested their firings through arbitration or other appeals from 2006–2017. OFFICERS FIRED FOR MISCONDUCT FROM 2006 TO 2017 THAT WERE REHIRED ON APPEAL WASHINGTON D.C.. 45% PHILADELPHIA 62% SAN ANTONIO 70% officers firedofficers rehired7 NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE PILLAR 09 REVISE USE OF FORCE POLICIES Require that deadly force be used only as a last resort. Require officers employ verbal and non-verbal de-escalation techniques in all circumstances with the goal of preventing or minimizing uses of force, and only use force that is necessary under the circumstances and proportional to the treat. Change the standard to evaluate whether law enforcement use of force was justified from whether the force was “reasonable” to whether the force was “necessary.” Condition grants on state and local law enforcement agencies’ establishing the same use of force standard. Change Divisive Police Policies PILLAR 10 BAN CHOKEHOLDS, NO-KNOCK WARRANTS & SHOOTING AT MOVING VEHICLES Ban the following uses of force: chokeholds and carotid holds, no-knock warrants, and shooting at moving vehicles. Condition law enforcement funding for state and local governments banning chokeholds and carotid holds, no-knock warrants, and shooting at moving vehicles. PILLAR 11 ELIMINATE POLICE FROM SCHOOLS Break the school-to-prison pipeline by removing police officers from schools in deep and ongoing consultation with students, teachers, and families. Train all building staff to be able to de-escalate and handle disruptive behavior in school, including administrative staff, custodial staff, and paraprofessionals. Staff schools with appropriate human and social service professionals such as counselors, youth development specialists, social workers, mental health and wellness practitioners, community interventionists, and restorative justice coordinators. PILLAR 12 DEMILITARIZE THE POLICE FORCE Limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement and encourage the return to the federal government military equipment already received. Restrict local and state police departments from purchasing or utilizing military weapons. PILLAR 13 BAN CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE Prohibit law enforcement from seizing property and cash from an individual unless the person is convicted of a crime and the state establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the property is subject to forfeiture. Stop permitting and incentivizing local and state police to engage in civil asset forfeiture by ending the federal Equitable Sharing program. 03 Theme USE THE OPTION THAT REPRESENTS THE MINIMAL AMOUNT OF FORCE NECESSARY TO REDUCE THE IMMEDIATE THREAT Escalation De-escalation NO FORCE* Officer Options: Verbal Commands, Office Presence Offender Threat: Obedient, Compliant, Non-aggressive MODERATE/LIMITED FORCE Officer Options: Physical Control Holds, OC Spray Offender Threat: Resisting, Non-compliant LESS LETHAL FORCE Officer Options: Electronic Control Weapon (ECW), ASP/Baton Offender Threat: Physically Aggressive or Assaultive behavior with immediate likelihood of injury to self or others Officer Options: Firearm Offender Threat: Objectively reasonable belief that there is an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury DEADLY FORCE Escalation *Use of Force Report not required De-escalation De-escalation Source: Philadelphia Police Department, Use of Force Policy, Directive 10.18 21 PILLARS Require Transparency, Reporting & Data Collection 04 Theme PILLAR 14 COLLECT DATA ON POLICE MISCONDUCT AND USE-OF-FORCE Create and audit a national citizen database of complaints against police, which examines patterns in complaint investigations, including patterns in the quality of investigations, findings, and discipline rendered. Develop a national police misconduct registry that includes use of excessive force, racial profiling, sexual assault, assault, perjury, falsifying a police report, and planting or destroying evidence, to prevent problematic officers who are fired or leave one agency from moving to another jurisdiction without any accountability. Require the Attorney General to collect data on investigatory actions and detentions by federal law enforcement agencies; the racial distribution of drug charges; the use of deadly force by and against law enforcement officers; as well as traffic and pedestrian stops and detentions. Mandate uniform FBI reporting and audit of lethal force incidents involving any law enforcement officer. Require state and local law enforcement agencies to report use of force data, disaggregated by race, sex, disability, religion, and age. BLACK PEOPLE ARE MOST LIKELY TO BE KILLED BY POLICE HISPANIC Rate: 3.8 BLACK Rate: 6.6 WHITE Rate: 2.5 Police Killings Per 1 Million Population% Killed by Police Unarmed, 2013–2020 HISPANIC Unarmed: 14.5% BLACK Unarmed: 17.0% WHITE Unarmed: 13.0% 3x MORE LIKELY TO BE KILLED BY POLICE THAN WHITE PEOPLE 1.3x MORE LIKELY TO BE UNARMED COMPARED TO WHITE PEOPLE Source: mappingpoliceviolence.org9 NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE PILLAR 15 MANDATE USE OF DASHBOARD AND BODY-WORN CAMERAS AND PROVIDE ACCESS TO FOOTAGE Require all federal police officers to wear functioning body- worn cameras and all federal law enforcement vehicles to have functioning dashboard cameras. Create uniform and national standards for the use and activation of body-worn and dashboard cameras, and direct access to footage for relevant prosecutorial and oversight bodies. Prohibit footage tampering and unauthorized access to recorded footage. Require state and local law enforcement to use existing federal funds to ensure the universal use of police body- worn and dashboard cameras. PILLAR 16 CONDUCT FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL AUDITS OF POLICE DEPARTMENTS Require regular and publicly available audits covering operations, budget, management, staffing structures, and policies and procedures. PILLAR 17 REQUIRE TRANSPARENCY AND COMMUNITY INPUT WITH PREDICTIVE POLICING, FACIAL RECOGNITION AND ANY NEW TECHNOLOGIES Mandate community input and independent assessment of potential biases before law enforcement deploy any predictive policing or facial recognition technology, and require community input on the implementation of any policing technologies. Ensure policing technologies’ impact on privacy concerns is in accordance with constitutional safeguards. 04Next >