The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will create a new council to “to promote best practices” in law enforcement, the agency announced Wednesday.
DHS said the Law Enforcement Coordination Council, chaired by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, would be its “first unified law enforcement coordination body.”
The body will conduct comprehensive reviews to ensure “fair, equitable, and impartial policing,” according to the department’s press release.
More specifically, the council’s responsibilities will include evaluating new challenges and potential policy changes while also coordinating the distribution of information and encouraging best practices, DHS said.
“The Law Enforcement Coordination Council will better enable the Department to combat current and future threats to our country, while ensuring the safety of both our law enforcement personnel and the diverse communities we serve,” Mayorkas said in the release.
Mayorkas told ABC News that the formation of the council was not in response to the widely criticized photos of border patrol agents chasing migrants in Del Rio, Texas, last week.
“These efforts began well before the incident at issue,” Mayorkas told ABC.
“I know that the investigators understand the need to move both thoroughly and quickly, and they’re conducting the investigation independently,” he said to ABC.