*The action comes amid sustained public anger and protests over excessive force and racism

President Donald J Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday which encourages police departments to improve training on use of force.
The order comes as the president faces tremendous pressure to take action following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police last month.

In a Rose Garden ceremony, which at times sounded like a campaign speech, Trump largely defended police officers, saying Americans “demand law and order. They may not say it, they may not be talking about it,” he said, “but that’s what they want.”

The order will create a database to track police officers with multiple instances of misconduct, and use federal grants to encourage departments to meet certain higher certification standards on use of force.

It would also call on departments to involve social workers and mental health professionals on calls dealing with homelessness, mental illness and addiction.

The order also calls for police departments to ban the use of chokeholds except when an officer feels his or her life is endangered.

It wasn’t immediately clear what practical effect that might have given questions about Trump’s powers over what is mostly state and local authority for law enforcement and shortcomings in the history of attempts to ban neck restraints.

The order does not address concerns by many that police treat African Americans and people of color unfairly. The focus, instead, is on breaking down barriers and bringing communities together and not demonizing the police, Trump said.

On Tuesday the president, as he has in the past month, forcefully defended law enforcement, saying, the number of bad officers was “very tiny.”

“The vast majority of police officers are selfless and courageous public servants. They are great men and women,” he said. And he denounced what he termed “radical and dangerous” proposals to defund police departments, asserting that many departments were, in fact, underfunded and under supported.

Before signing the order, Trump said he met with several families who he said, lost loved ones “in deadly interactions with police.”

Said Trump: “To all of the hurting families, I want you to know, that all Americans mourn by your side, your loved ones will not have died in vain.”

Political digressions

Trump touted positive economic news and steps that his administration has taken to assist minority communities such as empowerment zones and aid to historically black colleges and universities.

Trump also said “We must build upon our heritage, not tear it down” — an apparent reference to the dismantling of Confederate and other statues around the country.

The White House also is in a political confrontation with Congress over the apparent expansion of bipartisan support among lawmakers to rename U.S. military facilities named for Confederate commanders.

Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee has convened a hearing Tuesday afternoon on policing and community relations as Senate Republicans continue work on a policing bill they are expected to unveil this week.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives has introduced a bill that would, among other measures, also ban chokeholds.

npr.org