Sen. Tim Scott, South Carolina Republican, has reintroduced the Walter Scott Notification Act, legislation he introduced in 2015 following Walter Scott’s death in a police encounter. The bill requires states that receive federal funding for law enforcement to report specific details of such events.
This time around, Mr. Scott was joined by Republican Sens. Charles E. Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa plus James Lankford of Oklahoma in the effort; the legislation is now called the George Floyd-Walter Scott Notification Act, emerging just days after Floyd also died while in police custody, which was caught on video. His death sparked protests and riots nationwide and abroad.
“On the idea of defunding police, what a ridiculous idea. It is not an idea whose time has come. It should never come. The nation [absolutely] requires law and order. We need order in our of streets, and the easiest way to have that is to have a strong presence of character-driven law enforcement officers. There’s no doubt in my mind that the average law enforcement officer in this nation is not a racist. There’s also no doubt in my mind that, when you look at the actual facts, black folks are 2.5 times more likely to be shot by an officer than whites,” Mr. Scott told Fox News.
“Without that actual information in an aggregate value, we don’t really know what’s going on. Fewer than 45% of law enforcement agencies actually report their information to the FBI. I think it would help all of us to get a clearer picture of what’s going on within the law enforcement community,” the senator said.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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