New York Governor Andrew Cuomo discusses police reform measures with state lawmakers

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he has reached an agreement with state lawmakers to bring a series of police reforms. The move comes after mass protests against police brutality across the country. During a press briefing, Cuomo said that he will be signing the bills soon.

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Cuomo set to sign Bill

Addressing the press conferencing, he said, "People are saying enough is enough, and it is enough. It is enough. It's been the same point over and over and over again. Bring reforms to the criminal justice system. Bring reforms to policing. We've seen the same situation happen 20, 30, 40 times. How many times do you have to see the same situation before you act?"

Cuomo added, "This is not about what an individual state can do. It's actually broader than that. New York State will take this legislative action— and I hope it then becomes a model for other states to follow. We've done that in New York a number of times. We did it with marriage equality, we did it with free college tuition, we did it with raising the minimum wage. New York acts and then it provides a spur for progressive action by the rest of the country."

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Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress proposed a far-reaching overhaul of police procedures and accountability. The package would limit legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force incidents and ban police choke holds, among other changes.

It would revise the federal criminal police misconduct statute to make it easier to prosecute officers who are involved in “reckless” misconduct and it would change “qualified immunity” protections to more broadly enable damage claims against police in lawsuits. The legislation would also ban racial profiling, boost requirements for police body cameras and limit the transfer of military equipment to local jurisdictions.

READ: Joe Biden Opposes Protestors' Call For Police Defunding, Pushes For Reforms Instead

US protests

The United States is currently rattled by protests that erupted across the country over the killing of George Floyd by a Caucasian police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Derek choked Floyd to death by pinning him on the ground with a knee on the back of his neck.

An 8-minute-long horrific video of the incident went viral on social media in which Floyd was heard pleading to the officer to let him go as he can't breathe. Floyd's last words 'I can't breathe' became the slogan of the protests that initially started in the United States and later spread to the other countries as well. 

(with agency inputs)

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