Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Criticizes Policy That Allows Cops To Avoid Questions After A Shooting

Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries is one of 44 co-sponsors of a bill pushing for police reforms regarding officer training, data collection about traffic stops and deadly force uses, police misconduct investigations, and wait periods that allow cops under investigation in a shooting to avoid questioning for 2 to 10 days.

The bill is called the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act and Jeffries referred to the waiting period in particular as “problematic” because it gives officers the chance “to review evidence, speak to witnesses and get his or her story together without being subjected to critical questioning about what happened.”

He disputed the claim that the waiting period allows officers’ memories to improve, stating that police “should be held accountable under the same standards of everyone else. . . We certainly need to continue to respect our officers who sacrifice themselves to keep us safe, but they also shouldn’t be above the law.”

New York is one of 19 of the 50 largest police departments around the country that implement this waiting period.

If passed, the bill would withhold federal grants from police departments that practice the wait period policy.

What do you think of this policy and Rep. Jeffries’ stance?