Human Rights Watch strongly supports the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2000. The legislation would address the problem of police brutality -- one of the most serious, enduring, and divisive human rights violations in the United States.
The legislation would improve accountability systems within law enforcement agencies, enhance the Justice Department's ability to monitor police misconduct more consistently and conduct more "pattern or practice" investigations nationally, require data collection regarding deaths in police custody, and create a system to respond to allegations of misconduct by immigration law enforcement officials.
"We commend Rep. Conyers, Jr. and the bill's co-sponsors for introducing this proactive, comprehensive legislation to address police abuse," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "Solving the problem of police misconduct must become a priority and the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2000 is a major step in the right direction. All responsible Members of Congress should support this bill, which would help to hold abusive officers accountable and to improve police-community relations."
In July 1998, Human Rights Watch published a report, Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States, which examined the role and effectiveness of civilian review agencies, internal affairs units, civil lawsuits filed against the police, and criminal prosecutions (both federal and local) in fourteen U.S. cities. (Available on our website at https://www.hrw.org/reports98/police/index.htm.) We are pleased that the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2000 addresses many of the recommendations we made in that report. Human Rights Watch has also published reports on human rights violations by immigration law enforcement agents and the need for improved investigative and disciplinary systems in several reports, also available on our website (www.hrw.org).
