KAMALA'S RECORD ON PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES

Kamala Harris does not believe that putting more police on the streets creates more safety

Brooks Bawden Moore, LLC  
August 13, 2020

Here is a summary of positions taken by Kamala Harris on prominent public safety issues. 

Police Reform

Harris co-authored the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act(S. 3912), which addresses a wide range of policies and issues regarding policing practices.It includes measures intended to increase accountability for law enforcement misconduct and enhance transparency and data collection.Of note, it includes provisions to:o 

__Lower the criminal intent standard—from willful to knowing or reckless—to convict a law enforcement officer for misconduct in a federal prosecution.

__Limit qualified immunity as a defense to liability in a private civil action against a law enforcement officer or state correctional officer.

__Authorize the Department of Justice to issue subpoenas in investigations of police departments for a pattern or practice of discrimination.

__Create a national registry—the National Police Misconduct Registry—to compile data on complaints and records of police misconduct.
 
__Establish a framework to prohibit racial profiling at the federal, state, and local levels.

__Establish new requirements for law enforcement officers and agencies, including to report data on use-of-force incidents, to obtain training on implicit bias and racial profiling, and to wear body cameras.

__Ban chokeholds. 

Recent Statements on Policing Reform 

Earlier this summer, in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, she told The New York Times that,“it is status-quo thinking to believe that putting more police on the streets creates more safety. That’s wrong. It’s just wrong.”

On“The View,” she spoke about “reimagining how we do public safety in America.” The debate, the senator said, is about “reimagining how we do public safety in America...We have confused the idea that to achieve safety you put more cops on the street instead of understanding to achieve safe and healthy communities, you put more resources into the public education system of those communities, into affordable housing, into home ownership, into access to capital for small businesses, access to health care regardless of how much money people have. That’s how you achieve safe and healthy communities.”

On the Senate floor, she said, “Part of what has been upside down in policing policy in America is that we have confused having safe communities with hiring more cops on the street, as though that is the way to achieve safe communities, when in fact, the real way to achieve safe and healthy communities is to invest in those communities.” 

Other Criminal Justice Priorities  

Bail Reform.  Harris has worked with libertarian Rand Paul on legislation that would change a bail system for criminal defendants they say unfairly keeps poor people locked in jail.

Sentencing Reform.  Harris has cosponsored the bipartisan Smarter Sentencing Act (S. 2850), which would reduce mandatory minimum penalties for certain nonviolent drug offenses andgive federal judges the authority to conduct individualized reviews to determine the appropriate sentences for certain nonviolent drug offenses.

Marijuana Decriminalization/Record Expungement.  Harris is the sponsor of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (S. 2227), which would decriminalize and deschedule cannabis and provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses (among other items). 

Facial RecognitionTechnology.  Harris has expressed concerns with the use of facial recognition technologyby law enforcement,other government agencies, and private sector entities. These concerns relate tohow the technology is used, the datasets used, and its impacton minority communities.  In 2018, Harris, along with other Senators wrote to the FBI, FTC, and EEOCexpressing concerns with research showing facial recognition technology can produce or reinforce bias, or otherwise be inaccurate. She requested answers on how the FBI was progressing with complying with recommendations made by the GAO on its facial recognition program.

Firearms.  Harris has advocated for stricter gun laws, including: implementing universal background checks; banning semi-automatic rifles, high capacity magazines, and ghost guns; and prohibiting those convicted of a federal hate crime from purchasing firearms (among other issues).  

Online Sex Crimes.  In 2018 Harrisand other senators were successful at changing Section 230 to carve-out liability exemptions for sex-trafficking, under the law known as SESTA-FOSTA (Public Law 115-164).  In July 2020, Harris voted in the Senate Judiciary Committee for the bipartisan EARN IT Act (S. 3398), a more recent bill to roll back Section 230 protections when it comes to child sexual abuse material on tech platforms