A series of bills, supposed to improve the recruitment and training of police officers in the United States, were adopted Thursday, September 22 by the elected representatives of the House of Representatives.
These texts were defended by the Democratic staff, which hopes to silence accusations of laxity in the fight against crime, 50 days before the mid-term elections.
They have received support from the Biden administration and several elected Republicans.
Enough to anger those in the Democratic camp who have been campaigning to reduce police funding since the death of African-American George Floyd, with the slogan “Defund the police” (“Cut the funds from the police”).
Several voices on the left wing of the Democratic Party have spoken out against one of four bills, which would provide $250 million over the next five years to fund the nation's smallest police departments.
A passage to the Senate uncertain
Missouri progressive lawmaker Cori Bush strongly criticized that the funding was granted without
"addressing the crisis of police brutality"
.
"And this, despite the urgent and continuous appeals of the leaders of the civil rights movements"
, she regretted.
Since the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, the US Congress has been unable to pass any ambitious police reform in the United States, including a ban on chokeholds.
The three other texts voted on Thursday by elected members of the House of Representatives recommend, among other things, the deployment of mental health professionals rather than police officers in certain emergency situations.
The passage in the Senate of these texts is for the moment more uncertain.