Biden to sign police reform executive order on George Floyd anniversary

Joe Biden will on Wednesday sign an executive order meant to improve police accountability.

White House officials said the signing would mark the second anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, who died when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.

The order, drafted in the absence of legislative action, directs federal agencies to revise use-of-force policies, banning tactics such as chokeholds and restricting practices like no-knock warrants.

It also calls for the creation of a new national standard for accrediting police departments; establishes a national database to track police misconduct; further restricts the transfer of military equipment to police departments; and requires agencies to implement new tools to screen for inherent bias among officers as well as recruits, including those who promote unlawful violence or harbor white supremacist views.

The order, which will apply to more than 100,000 federal law enforcement officers, is a reflection of a delicate balance Biden is attempting to strike on policing, as advocates and progressives push him to fulfill a campaign promise to hold police accountable and Republicans seize on such calls to paint Democrats as anti-law enforcement.

Family members of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed when police executed a no-knock warrant at her apartment in 2020, will join Biden at the White House on Wednesday afternoon for a ceremony in which the president will speak and sign the order. Police officers and civil rights leaders will also be in attendance.

The order applies only to federal agencies. Biden does not have direct authority over state and local agencies. But White House officials said the order incentivizes all law enforcement agencies to participate in the police registry and to adopt the new accountability standards and de-escalation policies.

On a call with reporters on Tuesday night, White House officials said the order was no substitute for legislative action.

A White House official said the text had been revised and improved based on input from stakeholders but would not say if the document made explicit reference to systemic racism.