CONTACT: 
Mandy Simon, 212.633.4162, [email protected]
(NEW YORK, NY) — The White House today released preliminary recommendations from The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, including a call to establish a National Crime and Justice Task Force. Amnesty International USA has long-called on Congress and the administration to lead the creation of a national commission to examine the use lethal force, the militarization of police and to direct the Justice Department to collect and publish nationwide statistics on police shootings.
In response to today’s recommendations, Amnesty International USA Executive Director Steven W. Hawkins issued the following statement:
“We welcome today’s recommendation to create a National Crime and Justice Task Force and call on President Obama to implement it as soon as possible. This country’s long history of racial profiling and other abuses by police is only matched by its equally long history of inadequate accountability for those responsible. Now is the time for the U.S. to take real, concrete steps to ensure that human rights protections are incorporated into local, state and federal policing policies.”
Follow Steven W. Hawkins on Twitter: www.twitter.com/StevenWHawkins
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning global movement of more than 7 million people in over 190 countries who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.