For Immediate Release: May 25, 2022
Contact: Colleen Ross | [email protected] | 202-601-7877

Two Years after George Floyd’s Murder, Catholic Lobby Responds to Executive Order on Policing
Joan F. Neal: “As we recover from the pandemic and grapple with the effects of inflation, we call for a budget that cuts costs for working families, invests in true human security, and creates a society where all people can thrive.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, on the second anniversary of the death of Mr. George Floyd, President Biden signed an executive order that directs federal law enforcement agencies to update their use-of-force policies and creates a national registry of officers fired for misconduct. The order also authorizes the Department of Justice to use federal funding to encourage local police to tighten restrictions on the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants—steps that federal law enforcement agencies have already taken—and sets new restrictions on the sale of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies.

Joan F. Neal, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief Equity Officer, said:

“Today’s executive order is a welcome start toward achieving the long-denied justice due to George Floyd and other victims of police violence. We are grateful for this action, and remain committed to working to dismantle white supremacy in policing by ending practices that allow law enforcement officers to murder or maim Black people with impunity.

“People of faith have a duty to demand the end of state-sanctioned violence and the systemic white supremacy from which it stems. Failure to act would be an abdication of our moral and civic duty and a blatant disregard for the humanity of Black lives. We urge Congress to immediately pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (H.R.1280) to continue the critical work of making permanent, robust policing reforms that provide the guidance, support, and accountability U.S. law enforcement needs to protect and serve every person equally, regardless of their race.“

Mary J. Novak, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice’s Executive Director, said:

“President Biden’s Executive Order is an important and historic first step in the direction of justice in policing. This executive order will move federal law enforcement agencies toward increased accountability, transparency and fairness. We affirm the importance of creating concrete systems to hold federal police accountable to the communities they are sworn to protect and serve. We applaud President Biden’s efforts to ban chokeholds, restrict no-knock entries, restrict the transfer of most military equipment to law enforcement agencies and to incentivize state and local officers to do the same.

“The time is long overdue for reforms that hold law enforcement accountable and responsible for protecting and serving everyone in society equally. Today’s actions from the Biden-Harris administration are significant first steps toward modernizing and standardizing police practices and accountability throughout the United States and I urge Congress to continue this vital work.“

NETWORK has called for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act for over a year. As Pope Francis said on June 3, 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form.