NAACP Celebrates the Senate Passage of the Death in Custody Reporting Act

On December 10, 2014, the United States Senate passed, with strong bipartisan unanimous support, NAACP-supported H.R. 1447, the Death in Custody Reporting Act.  The NAACP released the following statement:

From Cornell William Brooks, NAACP President & CEO:

“We commend Congress for its passage of the Death in Custody Reporting Act. This crucial legislation is one piece of the puzzle toward true reform of our nation’s criminal justice system and understanding the phenomenon of the deaths of Americans while in custody. The stark staggering fact is that the nation has no reliable idea how many Americans die during arrest or police custody each year. This legislation will help fix that unacceptable gap by providing much-needed transparency in our Nation’s criminal justice system and by helping to alleviate the suspicion, concern and mistrust that currently exist in communities of color across America today. Now we need to turn our focus on ending racial profiling; on uniform standards for use of force by law enforcement agents; on building strong, independent, well funded civilian police accountability review boards; on equipping all law enforcement agents with complete video surveillance equipment; on ending the militarization of local law enforcement; on reforming the prosecutor system; and on comprehensive sentencing reform. ”

From Hilary O. Shelton, Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy:

“We are both pleased and proud that Congress has passed this legislation and that it will go to the President’s desk for his signature to become the law of the land.   In particular, we thank Congressman Bobby Scott (VA), for his tenacity in spearheading this legislation, as well as the United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society; the ACLU; and others who worked so hard in coalition with the NAACP, as well Senators Blumenthal (CT), Grassley (IA), Leahy (VT), Flake (AZ), and Coburn (OK).  The Death in Custody Reporting Act gives credence to the axiom, “in order to manage a problem, you must first be able to measure it.” The data collected through this reporting system will allow us to craft data driven policies to help reduce the racially disparate number of Americans of all races that die while in law enforcement custody.”