PROMOTING BEST PRACTICES
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Today, I’m signing an executive order encouraging police departments nationwide to adopt the highest professional standards to serve their communities. These standards will be as high and as strong as there is on Earth.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Under the executive order I’m signing today, we will prioritize federal grants from the Department of Justice to police departments that seek independent credentialing certifying that they meet high standards … As part of this new credentialing process, choke holds will be banned, except if an officer’s life is at risk.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Under this executive order, departments will also need to share of information about credible abuses so that officers with significant issues do not simply move from one police department to the next.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “In addition, my order will direct federal funding to support officers in dealing with homeless individuals and those who have mental illness and substance abuse problems. We will provide more resources for co-responders such as social workers who can help officers manage these complex encounters.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Beyond the steps we’re taking today, I am committed to working with Congress on additional measures.”
UNITY AND LAW AND ORDER
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Thank you all for being here as we take historic action to deliver a future of safety and security for Americans of every race, religion, color, and creed. We’re joined today by law enforcement professionals and community leaders. Though, we may all come from different places and different backgrounds, we’re united by our desire to ensure peace and dignity and equality for all Americans.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Today is about pursuing common sense and fighting for a cause like we seldom get the chance to fight for, you have to find common ground. But, I strongly oppose the radical and dangerous efforts to defend, dismantle and dissolve our police departments, especially now when we’ve achieved the lowest recorded crime rates in recent history. Americans know the truth. Without police, there is chaos. Without law, there is anarchy. And without safety, there is catastrophe.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “What is needed now is not more stoking of fear and division. We need to bring law enforcement and communities closer together, not to drive them apart.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Despite our very good record on crime, law and order must be further restored nationwide and your federal government is ready, willing, and able to help, as we did in Minneapolis after it got out of control for four days.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Americans can achieve anything when we work together as one national family. To go forward, we must seek cooperation, not confrontation. We must build upon our heritage, not tear it down. And we must cherish the principles of America’s founding as we strive to deliver safe, beautiful, elegant justice and liberty for all.”
HONORING POLICE OFFICERS
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Americans believe we must support the brave men and women in blue who police our streets and keep us safe. Americans also believe we must improve accountability, increase transparency, and invest more resources in police training, recruiting, and community engagement. Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals. They’re not mutually exclusive.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “The vast majority of police officers are selfless and courageous public servants. They are great men and women. When others run away from danger, police run straight into harm’s way often putting their lives at stake to protect someone who they don’t know or never even met.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We ask our police to put on the uniform and risk their lives for us every day. The least we deserve and the least we can do, because they deserve it so much. They have to get our gratitude and we have to give them great respect for what they do.”
RESTORING, RENEWING, AND REBUILDING COMMUNITIES
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Today’s action is a big part of the solution to restoring, renewing, and rebuilding our communities. For the last three and a half years, my administration has been focused on creating opportunity, fighting for equal justice, and truly delivering results.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We worked with some great people, we worked with fantastic people to get it done. We enacted landmark criminal justice reform, something that nobody else could get done. They tried and they couldn’t even come close, and we got it done and got it done powerfully.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We secured permanent and record funding for HBCU’s – that’s ‘Historically Black Colleges and Universities.’ Numbers that they never thought were possible and long-term financing.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We expanded affordable options for better healthcare. We created Opportunity Zones with Senator Tim Scott.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We achieved the lowest Black, Hispanic, and Asian unemployment rates in American history, and we will do it again.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We’re fighting for school choice, which really is the civil rights of all time in this country, frankly.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “A great jobs market and thriving economy is probably the best thing that we can do to help the Black, Hispanic, Asian communities.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We have to break old patterns of failure. Many of the same politicians now presenting themselves as the solution are the same ones who have failed for decades on schools, jobs, justice and crime. They are all, often, unfortunately, the same politicians running the cities and states where help is most needed. It’s an attitude, and it’s not working.”
MOURNING WITH FAMILIES THAT HAVE LOST A LOVED ONE
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “To all of the hurting families, I want you to know that all Americans mourn by your side. Your loved ones will not have died in vain. We’re one nation, we grieve together, and we heal together. I can never imagine your pain or the depth of your anguish. But I can promise to fight for justice for all of our people.”
###
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2020
EXECUTIVE ORDER
- - - - - - -
SAFE POLICING FOR SAFE COMMUNITIES
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. As Americans, we believe that all persons are created equal and endowed with the inalienable rights to life and liberty. A fundamental purpose of government is to secure these inalienable rights. Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement officers place their lives at risk every day to ensure that these rights are preserved.
Law enforcement officers provide the essential protection that all Americans require to raise their families and lead productive lives. The relationship between our fellow citizens and law enforcement officers is an important element in their ability to provide that protection. By working directly with their communities, law enforcement officers can help foster a safe environment where we all can prosper.
Unfortunately, there have been instances in which some officers have misused their authority, challenging the trust of the American people, with tragic consequences for individual victims, their communities, and our Nation. All Americans are entitled to live with the confidence that the law enforcement officers and agencies in their communities will live up to our Nation's founding ideals and will protect the rights of all persons. Particularly in African-American communities, we must redouble our efforts as a Nation to swiftly address instances of misconduct.
The Constitution declares in its preamble that one of its primary purposes was to establish Justice. Generations of Americans have marched, fought, bled, and died to safeguard the promise of our founding document and protect our shared inalienable rights. Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial leaders must act in furtherance of that legacy.
Sec. 2. Certification and Credentialing. (a) State and local law enforcement agencies must constantly assess and improve their practices and policies to ensure transparent, safe, and accountable delivery of law enforcement services to their communities. Independent credentialing bodies can accelerate these assessments, enhance citizen confidence in law enforcement practices, and allow for the identification and correction of internal deficiencies before those deficiencies result in injury to the public or to law enforcement officers.
(b) The Attorney General shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, allocate Department of Justice discretionary grant funding only to those State and local law enforcement agencies that have sought or are in the process of seeking appropriate credentials from a reputable independent credentialing body certified by the Attorney General.
(c) The Attorney General shall certify independent credentialing bodies that meet standards to be set by the Attorney General. Reputable, independent credentialing bodies, eligible for certification by the Attorney General, should address certain topics in their reviews, such as policies and training regarding use–of-force and de-escalation techniques; performance management tools, such as early warning systems that help to identify officers who may require intervention; and best practices regarding community engagement. The Attorney General's standards for certification shall require independent credentialing bodies to, at a minimum, confirm that:
(i) the State or local law enforcement agency's use-of-force policies adhere to all applicable Federal, State, and local laws; and
(ii) the State or local law enforcement agency's use-of-force policies prohibit the use of chokeholds -- a physical maneuver that restricts an individual's ability to breathe for the purposes of incapacitation -- except in those situations where the use of deadly force is allowed by law.
(d) The Attorney General shall engage with existing and prospective independent credentialing bodies to encourage them to offer a cost-effective, targeted credentialing process regarding appropriate use-of-force policies that law enforcement agencies of all sizes in urban and rural jurisdictions may access.
Sec. 3. Information Sharing. (a) The Attorney General shall create a database to coordinate the sharing of information between and among Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies concerning instances of excessive use of force related to law enforcement matters, accounting for applicable privacy and due process rights.
(b) The database described in subsection (a) of this section shall include a mechanism to track, as permissible, terminations or de-certifications of law enforcement officers, criminal convictions of law enforcement officers for on-duty conduct, and civil judgments against law enforcement officers for improper use of force. The database described in subsection (a) of this section shall account for instances where a law enforcement officer resigns or retires while under active investigation related to the use of force. The Attorney General shall take appropriate steps to ensure that the information in the database consists only of instances in which law enforcement officers were afforded fair process.
(c) The Attorney General shall regularly and periodically make available to the public aggregated and anonymized data from the database described in subsection (a) of this section, as consistent with applicable law.
(d) The Attorney General shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, allocate Department of Justice discretionary grant funding only to those law enforcement agencies that submit the information described in subsection (b) of this section.
Sec. 4. Mental Health, Homelessness, and Addiction. (a) Since the mid-twentieth century, America has witnessed a reduction in targeted mental health treatment. Ineffective policies have left more individuals with mental health needs on our Nation's streets, which has expanded the responsibilities of law enforcement officers. As a society, we must take steps to safely and humanely care for those who suffer from mental illness and substance abuse in a manner that addresses such individuals' needs and the needs of their communities. It is the policy of the United States to promote the use of appropriate social services as the primary response to individuals who suffer from impaired mental health, homelessness, and addiction, recognizing that, because law enforcement officers often encounter such individuals suffering from these conditions in the course of their duties, all officers should be properly trained for such encounters.
(b) The Attorney General shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services as appropriate, identify and develop opportunities to train law enforcement officers with respect to encounters with individuals suffering from impaired mental health, homelessness, and addiction; to increase the capacity of social workers working directly with law enforcement agencies; and to provide guidance regarding the development and implementation of co-responder programs, which involve social workers or other mental health professionals working alongside law enforcement officers so that they arrive and address situations together. The Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall prioritize resources, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to support such opportunities.
(c) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall survey community-support models addressing mental health, homelessness, and addiction. Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall summarize the results of this survey in a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, which shall include specific recommendations regarding how appropriated funds can be reallocated to support widespread adoption of successful models and recommendations for additional funding, if needed.
(d) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, in coordination with the Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, prioritize resources, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to implement community-support models as recommended in the report described in subsection (c) of this section.
Sec. 5. Legislation and Grant Programs. (a) The Attorney General, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall develop and propose new legislation to the Congress that could be enacted to enhance the tools and resources available to improve law enforcement practices and build community engagement.
(b) The legislation described in subsection (a) of this section shall include recommendations to enhance current grant programs to improve law enforcement practices and build community engagement, including through:
(i) assisting State and local law enforcement agencies with implementing the credentialing process described in section 2 of this order, the reporting described in section 3 of this order, and the co responder and community-support models described in section 4 of this order;
(ii) training and technical assistance required to
adopt and implement improved use–of-force policies and procedures, including scenario-driven de-escalation techniques;
(iii) retention of high-performing law enforcement officers and recruitment of law enforcement officers who are likely to be high-performing;
(iv) confidential access to mental health services for law enforcement officers; and
(v) programs aimed at developing or improving relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve, including through community outreach and listening sessions, and supporting non profit organizations that focus on improving stressed relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 16, 2020.
###
The White House · 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW · Washington, DC 20500-0003 · USA · 202-456-1111