In Support of Legislation to Establish Police Accountability Review Boards and to Put Other Programs in Place to Address Police Misconduct

WHEREAS, police misconduct and abuse continues to permeate our nation and is a plague upon all people of every color and ethnic origin; and

WHEREAS, in 1993 the NAACP released "Beyond the Rodney King Story," that both documented the abuse and made substantive recommendations on how to address this serious problem; and

WHEREAS, NAACP President and CEO Kweisi Mfume, as well as Chairman of the Board Julian Bond and Washington Bureau Director Hilary Shelton have consistently given public statements and congressional testimony in meetings with representatives of the Administration that the problem of police misconduct must be addressed in a comprehensive manner that is responsive to all citizens if trust is going to be restored among members of the public, and

WHEREAS, any approaches to addressing the overall problem of police misconduct must be equally as comprehensive in scope; and

WHEREAS, the NAACP has recommended solutions to the problem of police misconduct that includes police accountability review boards, enhancement of the U.S. Department of Justice's Patterns and Practices Department, the establishment of a quick response coordination team from the U.S. Department of Justice, increased training, strategies which focus on immigration and naturalization abuses, full funding for the collection of police misconduct incidents adopted into law in the 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill and comprehensive data collection both in routine traffic stops and incidents of death during policing encounters; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP support and endorse legislation soon to be introduced in the 106th Congress by Congressman John Conyers Jr., of Michigan to be titled 'The Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act".

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP call upon the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate to enact the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act with all due speed and President Clinton sign this legislation into law.