Democrats to unveil Justice in Policing Act: Does it go too far?
A sweeping new police reform bill is being drafted by congressional Democrats; former NYPD detective Dr. Oscar Odom reacts.
Former NYPD Dr. Oscar Odom on Sunday bashed the police reform measures being espoused by the left and members of Congress.
"It's like they're throwing the baby out with the bathtub," Odom told "Fox & Friends Weekend."
“If you want to nationalize something as far as the use of force and make that general, that’s fine. But qualified immunity? We go out there and make split-second decisions that can cause our life,” Odom said.
Odom went on to say, “And then, for a split-second decision, then now you want to attack me, you want to sue me, you want to take my property? Once again, like a few good men, I say, pick up a weapon and take a pose. Join me.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., threw her weight behind a growing movement to defund police departments that has become a rallying cry for some protesters in the wake of George Floyd's death.
The progressive firebrand put her stamp of approval on the far-left demand as a policy solution to combat police brutality and racial injustice during a congressional primary debate that aired Friday night on NY1.
Ocasio-Cortez said she's "actively engaged in advocacy" for a "reduction of our NYPD budget and defunding a $6 billion NYPD budget that costs us books in the hands of our children and costs us very badly needed investment in NYCHA [New York City Housing Authority] and public housing."
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Ocasio-Cortez echoed the demands of Black Lives Matter and police reform activists that New York City should be spending less on policing and putting that money into resources that would help black communities thrive, such as education, housing and social services.
That stance puts her at odds with the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who say they don't support efforts to defund police departments.
Ocasio-Cortez offered up her support for the #DefundthePolice movement when laying out her policy solutions to police reforms. She also wants to end qualified immunity, which shields police officers from legal accountability and she also wants to end the transfer of military equipment to police departments.