Senate committee weighs U.S. probe of all police killings of minorities

Christopher Doering | USATODAY

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering whether to require Justice Department review of any killing of a minority by a police officer.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R.-Iowa, chairman of the Senate panel, said Monday staff is discussing a number of options following a rash of high-profile cases of police officers using lethal force against minorities in Ferguson, Mo., New York, Baltimore and other cities. The deaths have prompted nationwide concern about police use of force, especially against black men.

Grassley said staff on the Senate Judiciary Committee is examining what, if anything, lawmakers should do. He said the committee is in the preliminary stages of its review, and could decide not to proceed on any of the options currently being discussed. A decision on whether to act could come as soon as the end of May.

The Iowa Republican said one plan being considered is whether to require the Justice Department to conduct a review when a minority is killed by a police officer. Currently, the Justice Department has the legal authority to get involved and investigate if it believes a federal law has been violated. Grassley's plan would make that involvement mandatory even if a federal law hasn't been broken.

He declined to outline other things being considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"It's something we got to think about and not have a hasty action, and that doesn't mean we're going to have to take action," Grassley told reporters Monday. "I'm not one to pile on police because I expect (the police) to protect me. But some of the stuff you see on television is very nerve-racking and very difficult to say that common sense was used."

The Justice Department declined to comment on Grassley's remarks.

James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police's Washington office, said Grassley's proposal triggering a review of minority and police-related killings would be a violation of the Constitution because it creates a special class of citizens, rather than mandating equal treatment for all people by federal, state and local law enforcement. The Fraternal Order of Police is the largest police labor organization with 335,000 members nationwide.

"We do not believe that any group should be deprived or any group should be over-served," Pasco said.

Grassley's proposal "would result in taking much needed federal resources away from the true federal mission and would put them instead in the position of second-guessing state and local law enforcement," he said.

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Contact Christopher Doering at cdoering@gannett.com or reach him at Twitter: @cdoering