Tillis, Burr Must Embrace House Police Reform Bill

House Bill Provides Critical Reforms Lacking in Failed Senate Legislation

RALEIGH, N.C. - After an inadequate police reform bill failed today in the U.S. Senate, Piedmont Rising is calling on Senator Thom Tillis and Senator Richard Burr to support legislation proposed in the U.S. House that would enact more far-reaching reforms to policing. Earlier this month, Piedmont Rising released a report on reducing racial health disparities in North Carolina that called for police brutality to be recognized and addressed as a public health issue.

“All across North Carolina, communities are demanding meaningful police reform as part of a broader agenda for racial justice and making clear that this is an urgent public health crisis,” said Piedmont Rising Executive Director Casey Wilkinson. “The Senate’s legislation did not sufficiently address the concerns of millions of Americans, and its failure earlier today is no excuse for Senators Tillis and Burr to shirk their responsibility to enact real reform. They must immediately support the House’s comprehensive legislation.”

Background:

Police reform advocates considered legislation advanced by Senate Republicans to be inadequate because it failed to make any changes to the qualified immunity doctrine, did not ban chokeholds outright, and did not limit the use of “no-knock” warrants. The House legislation would address all three of these issues while also creating a comprehensive national database for police misconduct and requiring police training to combat racial profiling. Civil rights organizations such as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund have opposed the Senate legislation.

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About Piedmont Rising

Piedmont Rising is a 501 (c)4 issue advocacy organization built by and for North Carolinians to advocate for lower insurance premiums and prescription drug costs and to ensure that more people have access to safe and affordable health care. Through grassroots organizing, education, and engagement, we are amplifying our health care stories and holding our elected officials accountable to the people, and issues they were elected to represent. www.piedmontrising.org