Resolution 966 – Calling for an End to the Killing and Mistreatment of Black People at the Hands of Law Enforcement (merged with Res 970)

Merged into Resolution 970

WHEREAS this country has never healed after the wound it caused itself by the institution of human slavery, and

WHEREAS down through the decades and the centuries, this failure to heal has led to continued human suffering, in the form of outward violence and insidious discrimination against Black people, and

WHEREAS this continued circumstance leads to the degradation of us all, whether we are victims, perpetrators, or allegedly innocent bystanders, and 

WHEREAS the most visible sign of this racial hatred and discrimination descended from slavery is found embedded in our law enforcement agencies and is manifested by the brutal and frequently deadly treatment of Black people,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, call for the end of the killing and mistreatment of Black people, including harassment, arbitrary arrests, injury, and physical abuse at the hands of law enforcement, 

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we, the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, urge people of good intent everywhere to stand in implacable opposition to the mistreatment and killing of Black people at the hands of law enforcement, and

THEREFORE, BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that we, the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, call for an end to this heart-breaking violence, and, in pursuit of this end, we call on  our federal, state, and local governments to do the following, at a minimum, without hesitation:

  1. Establish a separate unit of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice which, in the absence of swift and just action by state or local authorities, will be tasked solely with the investigation and criminal prosecution of any law enforcement personnel found to have deprived a Black person of their civil rights through violence, including violence resulting in death.  This division would also be charged with the investigation and prosecution of any person found to have deprived any law enforcement agent of their civil rights through violence, including violence resulting in death,
  2. Mandate the establishment in every community in this country which has a police department or other law enforcement agency a Citizens’ Advisory Council on Law Enforcement and the Community.  In addition to its broad responsibility to advise government and law enforcement agencies, this Council would conduct an ongoing, periodic Public Forum on Law Enforcement and the Community.  Any of the Council’s recommendations not adopted by the law enforcement agency would be sent to the community’s executive and to its legislative body for their action,
  3. Appropriate federal funds to sponsor the retraining of all law enforcement agents on Non-Violence in Interactions with the Public, 
  4. Mandate the conducting of psychological testing of all prospective employees of law enforcement agencies, aimed at identifying and rejecting as candidates any active racist, white nationalist, or other persons who could pose an unnecessary threat of violence, particularly to Black people,
  5. Mandate the end of “qualified immunity” for law enforcement, 
  6. Re-imagine law enforcement, with rearranged budgeting, which would include:  a) a significant reduction of the number of armed, sworn, uniformed officers to reflect the fact that they would only be assigned to calls where armed persons were presenting a threat to other members of the community, b) hiring of other unarmed Community Safety Officers who are experts educated in resolution of problems regarding mental health, substance abuse, family altercations, homelessness, and the apparent commission of non-violent felonies and misdemeanors.  Some of law enforcement’s former budget would be redirected to addressing many of those issues which cause members of the community to commit crimes in the first place, and
  7. Condition Federal funding of law enforcement agencies upon the adoption and enforcement of the following policies  a) the termination of officers found to be guilty of serious, unnecessary violence,  b) banning of chokeholds and other moves resulting in the blocking of airways, c) banning of “no-knock” searches, with or without warrants, and  d) cooperation, through the supplying of information, with a new Federal registry of police misconduct and use of force.  This would include the refusal to hire anyone who appears on that registry for misconduct or is otherwise found to have such a record,

and, in pursuit of these ends, a copy of this Resolution will be sent to Washington State’s congressional delegation, to Washington State legislators, and to the chief executive and chief law enforcement officer of each county in the State of Washington.

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Submitted by the San Juan County, Washington Democratic Party to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee for consideration at its September 12, 2020 Virtual Meeting (Date Submitted 8/14/2020)

Note:  Many of the ideas contained in this Resolution are taken from the letter to Congressional Leadership from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and its hundreds of organizational and individual signatories, dated June 1, 2020.                                                        

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