Rev. Sharpton Speaks About Reforming Policing Practices, Points to the Potential of Consent Decrees

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Jun 03, 2020

(New York) — In an interview on Wednesday, Reverend Sharpton spoke about the federal civil rights investigation into the death of George Floyd, and the resulting spike of interest into civil rights and policing practices.

Regarding policing reforms, Reverend Sharpton emphasized that the first step should be create a precedent to consistently hold police officers legally accountable: “The law must be upheld against anyone that breaks the law, whether they wear blue jeans or blue uniforms”.

On the subject of choosing to advocate for either police reforms or defunding of police departments, Rev. Sharpton acknowledges the potential of using consent decrees, which allow the Justice Department to take over police departments that have been found to have problems with repeated misconduct. Rev. Sharpton continues, “The problem is that you have a Justice Department now that is not committed to the right principles”, and advises that for now, activists should seek reforms on a state level.

Watch the full interview below.