06/19/2021

Amid Reform Movement, Some States Give Police More Power

The measures came following George Floyd’s murder by police

After a year of protests over police brutality, some Republican-controlled states have ignored or blocked police-reform proposals, moving instead in the other direction by granting greater powers to officers, making it harder to discipline them and expanding their authority to crack down on demonstrations.

The sponsors of the GOP measures acted in the wake of the nationwide protests that followed George Floyd’s murder, and they cited the disturbances and destruction that spread last summer through major U.S. cities, including Portland, New York and Minneapolis, where Floyd died at the hands of officers.

“We have to strengthen our laws when it comes to mob violence, to make sure individuals are unequivocally dissuaded from committing violence when they’re in large groups,” said Florida state Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin (R) during a hearing for an anti-riot bill that was enacted in April.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WBNS-10TV.