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Police Reform and Race: The Stances of the Major Parties By Analisa Wong Edited by Hannah Rogers 2020 is not only a year marked by Covid-19, but a year marked by the echoes of hundreds of thousands of protesters marching for Black Lives Matter, calling for justice after George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was killed in the custody of Minneapolis police. Racism in America, criminal justice, and policing have always been sensitive topics to broach and they have become particularly hypersensitive this U.S. election year. There is a range of perspectives regarding police reform. While some call for defunding the police, others demand a complete rebuild of the system. On the opposing side of the spectrum, the police are viewed as a legitimate institution that requires no changes. This election can determine which of these perspectives will be amplified. Let us take a look at how Republican and Democrat presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, address policing now and how they further intend to deal with policing if they are elected. Trump – known to have said, in regard to rioters and the police, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts” – is clear about using force against civilians in light of the tumult time following Floyd’s death 63. Trumps supports the use of police force in response to crimes as well as situations of protest. Trump has opposed the defunding of the police and signed an executive order towards police reform. This is supposed to increase government grants so that police officers receive training in how they utilize force against civilians. However, with this newly signed executive order, it does not include the ban of chokeholds, which as we can see in the death of George Floyd, is something that needs to be addressed. 64 Overall, it can be said that Trump’s approach to police reform is indeed to allocate funds toward the police department for additional training in handling civilian conflict, but it remains to be seen how much difference this will actually bring in reforming the police force itself. Biden shares the notion of refusing to defund the police; however, that is as far as the commonalities go between himself and Trump in their attitudes toward police reform. Biden’s campaign stance on criminal justice is with both police safety and civilians in mind. This is evident in his pledge to invest $300 million into police programs not only to hire more police officers but training them to be formless adversarial actors with local communities. 65 This promises to make a difference in the police-community climate on a local level. Perhaps the most noticeable comparison between Trump and Biden is in their police-civilian approaches to police reform. Trump’s stance on the police force is that they are an army head that draws the line of segregation between police and civilians, thus assuming that protesters are criminals and criminals are protestors. Biden, on the other hand, strives for agreement between the two and works to ensure the security of both sides. Needless to say, police reform still has a long and difficult road ahead regardless of who 63
Trump, Donald. Twitter Post. May 29, 2020
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Moore, Elena. “Trump's And Biden's Plans For Criminal Justice.” NPR. NPR, October 16, 2020.
Pearce, Matt. “President Trump and Joe Biden Offer Opposing Visions of Policing.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, September 14, 2020. 65
