Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) is calling for a total ban on the use of facial recognition software for policing, according to a "Justice and Safety for All" pledge he released.
"In other ways, we must hold our police and sheriff’s departments to a higher standard," the pledge says. "And we must end harmful policing practices like racial profiling, stop and frisk, oppressive “broken windows” policing, and the militarization of police forces — all of which actively undermine public safety and community trust in law enforcement. Widespread use of excessive force, including deadly shootings of unarmed civilians, undermine the integrity of and public trust in the police. Violence and brutality of any kind, particularly at the hands of the police meant to protect and serve our communities, must not be tolerated."
Additionally, he pledges to:
- Establish federal standards for the use of body cameras, including establishing third-party agencies to oversee the storage and release of police videos.
- Mandate criminal liability for civil rights violations resulting from police misconduct.
- Create a federally managed database of police use of deadly force.
- Require and fund police officer training on implicit bias (to include biases based on race, gender, sexual orientation and identity, religion, ethnicity and class), cultural competency, de-escalation, crisis intervention, adolescent development, and how to interact with people with mental and physical disabilities.
- Provide funding to states and municipalities to create civilian corps of unarmed first responders, such as social workers, EMTs, and trained mental health professionals, who can handle order maintenance violations, mental health emergencies, and low-level conflicts outside the criminal justice system.
- Incentivize access to counseling and mental health services for officers.
- Diversify police forces and academies and incentivize officers to live and work in the communities they serve.