US launches sweeping probe into policing practices . . .Ex-police officer convicted of murdering Floyd
Minneapolis. – The US Justice Department on Wednesday launched a sweeping civil investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis following a jury’s verdict that former city police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.
The probe is the first major action of Attorney General Merrick Garland, after President Joe Biden vowed to address systemic racism in the United States. It will consider whether the department engages “in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, including during protests,” he said.
He added it will also examine whether the department “engages in discriminatory conduct and whether its treatment of those with behavioral health disabilities is unlawful.”
Chauvin’s conviction was a milestone in the fraught racial history of the United States and a rebuke of law enforcement’s treatment of Black Americans. Floyd’s death was one in a long list of police killings that prompted nationwide protests.
“I know such wounds have deep roots. That too many communities have experienced those wounds firsthand. Yesterday’s verdict in the state criminal trial does not address potentially systemic policing issues in Minneapolis,” Garland said.
Garland has previously said he will make cracking down on police misconduct a priority.
A separate criminal Justice Department investigation into whether the officers involved in Floyd’s death violated his civil rights continues, Garland said.
The decision to open a probe into systemic policing problems marks a sharp contrast from the administration of former President Donald Trump, which sharply curtailed the use of court-enforcement agreements to prevent police departments from violating peoples’ civil rights.
President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the conviction of Chauvin “can be a giant step forward” for the nation in the fight against systemic racism. But he declared that “it’s not enough.”
Biden spoke from the White House hours after the verdict alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, with the pair saying the country’s work is far from finished with the verdict.
Biden and Harris called on Congress to act swiftly to address policing reform, including by approving a bill named for Floyd .
A 12-member jury on Tuesday found Chauvin, 45, guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter after considering three weeks of testimony from 45 witnesses, including bystanders, police officials and medical experts.
In a confrontation captured on video, Chauvin, a white veteran of the police force, pushed his knee into the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man in handcuffs, for more than nine minutes on May 25, 2020.
Chauvin and three fellow officers were attempting to arrest Floyd, accused of using a fake US$20 bill to buy cigarettes at a grocery store. – Reuters.
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