TUESDAY, JULY 28 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A
Politics & the Nation
BY TOM JACKMANIn the movement to overhaul
American policing, some of the
most powerful players, with the
most immediate options avail-
able, are the country’s mayors.
They typically can hire or fire
police chiefs, influence police de-
partments to change policies,
oversee city budgets, and negoti-
ate collective bargaining agree-
ments with police unions.
Realizing this, the nation’s
black mayors gathered last month
and devised a Peace Pact for Com-
munity Centered Policing. The
plan outlined by the African
American Mayors Association
(AAMA) calls for providing trans-
parency in policing, reevaluating
police policies and union con-
tracts, advocating f or federal poli-
cy changes, improving communi-
ty engagement, and creating city
budgets reflecting community
values.
In i nterviews, the leaders of the
African American mayors group
said they want to build on the
momentum of the police reform
movement ignited by the death of
George Floyd — and they do not
favor “defunding the police.”
“We don’t w ant to lose the focus
of this moment,” said Houston
Mayor Sylvester Turner, the sec-
ond vice chair of the mayors asso-
ciation. “We don’t have a lot of
time. People will be asking, ‘What
have you done?’ ”
In Houston, Turner said he im-
mediately took a look at police
policies and signed an executive
order banning the use of choke-
holds, requiring verbal warnings
before using deadly force when
practical, and requiring officers to
intervene if they see another offi-
cer doing something wrong. He
also appointed a citizen task force
— “no elected officials,” Turner
said — to look at issues such as
releasing body camera footage,
diverting people in crisis from jail
and “how to do a reform process
without sacrificing public safety.”
Houston Police Chief Art
Acevedo, also the head of the
Major Cities Chiefs Association,
said he had reviewed the Peace
Pact and added that “police chiefs
commend the efforts and support
a comprehensive approach to en-
acting police and societal reform.”
“We needed to come up with a
national standard for community
policing to go forward,” said
McKinley Price, the mayor of
Newport News, Va., and president
of the black mayors group. “We
think it’s a good blueprint for all
of our members to start a discus-
sion.”
Price added, “We do not call for
abolishing or defunding police
departments. Rather, encourag-
ing cities to adopt budgets that
are going to reflect their own
values. How they can do things
differently, but definitely not ‘de-
funding.’ ”
Every city is different, Turner
noted. “In Houston, we need more
police officers, not less,” he said.
The fourth-largest city in the
United States has far fewer offi-
cers than New York or Chicago
with far more area to cover, Turn-
er said. Statistics show Houston
has about 23 officers per 10,
population, while New York and
Chicago have more than 40 offi-
cers per 10,000. Turner’s most
recent budget actually increased
police funding by 2 percent.“We must respond as a city as a
whole, not just the city govern-
ment,” Turner said. He has been
urging Houston-based corpora-
tions, as well as local nonprofit
groups and endowments, to “step
up to the plate now and invest in
communities that have been ig-
nored for decades. It requires a
holistic response from these For-
tune 500 companies, these banks
who have done very well.”
The Peace Pact has specific rec-
ommendations that mayors can
adopt immediately, such as call-
ing on Congress to pass theGeorge Floyd Justice in Policing
Act, which bans chokeholds and
no-knock warrants, limits the use
of military equipment by police,
provides for more training and
accreditation of police, and calls
for increased police accountabili-
ty. The bill has already passed the
House.
The pact also calls o n mayors to
revisit collective bargaining
agreements and police bills of
rights as well as local police poli-
cies on use of force, the “duty to
intervene” during inappropriate
acts and increased accountability.Establishing websites for citizens
to report police misconduct and
for police to disclose the results of
those complaints are part of the
pact’s transparency proposals.
“I think the cities that take the
Peace Pact seriously,” said Steve
Benjamin, the mayor of Colum-
bia, S.C., and former president of
the AAMA, “will be very different
cities five to 10 years from now.
Cities that take it seriously will
attract the best and brightest peo-
ple who believe in justice and
inclusion.”
The mayors said they favoredfinding ways to improve respons-
es to situations involving mental
health, particularly with profes-
sionals who aren’t police officers,
and that cities demand too much
of their street cops to also deal
with social issues such as home-
lessness and drug addiction. In
suburban Arlington County, Va.,
police officers have administered
the drug Narcan to save nine
people from near-fatal overdoses
since April.
“I guarantee you,” Benjamin
said, “the answer to many o f these
questions is to never send in a
stranger with a gun. We over-rely
on police officers to do so many
things they should not be doing.”
Richard Aborn, president of
the Citizens Crime Commission of
New York City, said the pact had
solid proposals on police account-
ability. “I would put a very high
emphasis on making the police
disciplinary process more trans-
parent,” Aborn said. “It sends a
significant message to the com-
munity, by the police, that com-
plaints are being taken seriously.”
Aborn, who consults with big
city police departments around
the country, also suggested an
addition to the emphasis on the
“duty to intervene” for officers
who see another officer violating
laws or policies. He s aid front-line
leaders on the streets, the super-
vising sergeants and lieutenants
of patrol officers, “are setting the
values of the police officers. I
think there needs to be a huge
amount of emphasis on better
training of front-line supervisors,
there has to be absolute account-
ability on their duty to intervene,
and it has to be enforced.”
[email protected]Black mayors release police overhaul plan that doesn’t support ‘defunding’
ANDRES LEIGHTON/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Columbia, S.C., Mayor Steve Benjamin, seen in 2018, said cities taking the Peace Pact seriously will
look very d ifferent in 10 years.BY SHAYNA JACOBSnew york — President
Trump’s lawyers are pushing to
kill a grand jury subpoena for
his tax records by arguing that
the Manhattan district attor-
ney’s order to produce docu-
ments is “wildly overbroad” and
tantamount to “harassment,”
according to an amended law-
suit filed in federal court here
on Monday.
The president’s latest attempt
to shield his financial records
comes as Manhattan District At-
torney Cyrus Vance Jr. seeks to
accelerate his investigation into
hush-money payments made to
two women during the 2016
presidential campaign. It follows
a major Supreme Court ruling
this month that found Trump’s
status as a sitting president does
not m ake him immune t o investi-
gation by local authorities.
Trump’s civil complaint seeks
to block Vance from obtaining
Trump’s records through a sub-
poena to his accounting firm,
Mazars USA. His lawyers, barred
by the Supreme Court’s 7-to-
ruling from arguing presidential
immunity, are focused now on
challenging the subpoena’s legal-
ity.
In the complaint, Trump’s
lawyers argued that Vance’s sub-
poena contains language mir-
roring that used by congressio-
nal Democrats in their attempt
to seek these and other financial
records. The matching text
“ confirms that he lacked a good
faith basis and that the
s ubpoena amounts to harass-
ment of the President,” says the
filing by William Consovoy and
other attorneys representing
Trump.
In arguing that the subpoena
is too broad, Consovoy wrote
that it is “not remotely confined”
to the grand jury investigation
Vance began in 2018.
“Moreover,” Consovoy wrote,
“the subpoena demands volumi-
nous documents that relate totopics and entities f ar beyond the
District Attorney’s limited juris-
diction under New York law.” He
referred to it as an “arbitrary
fishing expedition.”
Vance’s office is investigating
whether the Trump Organization
falsified business records to con-
ceal payments made to porno-
graphic film actress Stormy Dan-
iels and former Playboy model
Karen McDougal. Each had
claimed during the run-up to t he
2016 election that they had af-
fairs with Trump several years
ago, allegations the president
has denied.
Lawyers for Trump are
e xpected to push for Vance’s
office to reveal more about the
scope of its investigation, a move
the district attorney opposes.
Carey Dunne, Vance’s general
counsel, recently said that
Trump’s newest challenges
should be accelerated and that
further delays would have the
effect of giving Trump the immu-
nity he wanted but the Supreme
Court rejected.
The case i s pending before U.S.
District Judge Victor Marrero.
[email protected]Trump lawyers call N.Y. tax subpoena ‘ wildly overboard’
PETER FOLEY/BLOOMBERG NEWS
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., center, is looking t o accelerate his investigation into
hush-money payments made to two women during the 2016 presidential campaign.Civil complaint follows
S upreme Court ruling on
documents this monthVA #2705029456A | MHIC #46744 | DC #67000878 | NC #202-897-4155 DC301-264-8942 MD703-586-9050 VACALL TODAYFOR FREE ESTIMATE$2500 off
a whole house of siding
- Siding experts for VA, DC, MD, NC
- Virtually seamless panels in
scores of colors and styles
- Free price quotes
NO payments and0% interest forSIDING 6 monthsSPECIALPayments as low as $159 monthly.
with approved credit based on 1000 square feet.
Offer valid 30 days following date of written
price quote given prior to 8/3/*Terms and Conditions Apply. See Ameritech for details.
Minimum purchase of 1000 square feet.Call Nowfor $2500 OFF703-468-1540 VA301-841-8322 MD202-794-9033 DC- Quality You Can Afford
- Complete Bath Remodel
60%
offinstallationMHIC #125450 | DC #67004413 | VA #2705 108835A | WVA #Payments^
as low as
$
149GUIDELINESSTRICTLY
FOLLOWINGCDCSPECIALSummer