U.S. Democrats announce police and justice reform legislation

File photo of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. /Reuters

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer led the Democrats by announcing police and justice reform legislation in the U.S. on Monday.

Pelosi said this "moment ofnational anguish is beingtransformed into a movement ofnational action as Americansfrom across the countrypeacefully protest to demand anend to injustice."

"We cannot settle for anythingless than transformativestructural change, which is whythe Justice in Policing Act willremove barriers of prosecutingpolice misconduct and coveringdamages by addressing thequality immunity doctrine," she added.

Some highlights of the legislation include:

– Demilitarizing the police by limiting the transfer of military weapons to state and local police departments

– Combating police brutality by requiring body and dashboard cameras

– Banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases

– Ending racial profiling

It will also make lynching a federal hate crime.

Pelosi also called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to swiftly take up the legislation once the bill is passed in the House of Representatives.

"A profession where you have the power to kill should be a profession that requires highly trained officers who are accountable to the public," Representative Karen Bass, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, told a news conference.

Democrats expect to bring the legislation to the House of Representatives floor by July 4.

Anticipating resistance in the Republican-controlled Senate, Democrats hope to enlist the aid of public sentiment as opinion polls show widespread public concern about police violence.

The bill does not address calls by protesters to defund police departments, a move advocates say would free up funds to address social ills that officers are ill-equipped to handle.

Instead, legislators said such issues would be addressed in subsequent legislation.

After a weekend with no public events, Trump held a roundtable with law enforcement officials at the White House on Monday.

Floyd's death in Minneapolis, where a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, was the latest in a string of deaths of black people at the hands of police that have sparked fresh calls for reforms.

Among the legislation's provisions, Democratic aides and analysts say allowing civil lawsuits against police could prove most effective in curbing police brutality. But it is likely to face opposition from Republicans.

(With input from Reuters)