Legislative Background on Local Policing
Recent Action by Congress on Law Enforcement Reform
The fatal shooting on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, by a white police officer led to protests and a national debate about law enforcement’s relationship with minorities and the use of force by local police. In response, Congress and the Administration took several actions. Hearings. Senator Claire McCaskill (MO-D), who at the time chaired the Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, held a hearing on September 9, 2014, “to examine the militarization of local police departments” and Federal programs that enable local law…
