Dems push bill to collect data on community trust of police

House Democratic lawmakers have recently introduced legislation to expand data collection of public trust of law enforcement amid controversial police shootings.

Under the legislation offered by Reps. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), who is running for the Senate, the annual National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Justice Statistics would include questions about trust in law enforcement.

The lawmakers behind the bill say the statistics would help the Justice Department identify areas where public trust in police is particularly low so that the attorney general can subsequently make recommendations to address the problem.

{mosads}“Unfortunately, the real and perceived lack of equity, dignity, and justice has eroded trust between the public and law enforcement,” Murphy said in a Friday statement. “As a CPA, I know that in order to improve any metric, you have to start by measuring it.”

The bill has three Democratic co-sponsors so far: Reps. Charlie Rangel (N.Y.), Mike Honda (Calif.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.).

Its introduction comes amid scrutiny of Chicago officials this week over the delayed release of a video showing black teenager Laquan McDonald being shot 16 times by a white police officer last year.

Multiple leading black lawmakers said this week that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel should resign if it turns out he was involved in trying to cover up the video to protect his reelection prospects. 

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also said Friday that any Chicago officials who “helped suppress” the video should resign.