Democrats to unveil sweeping US police reform proposal after Floyd death

The proposal is expected to ban police choke-holds and racial profiling, require nationwide use of body cameras and subject police to civilian review boards.

U.S. house Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announces the House of Representatives managers, including Reps'. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Slyvia Garcia (D-TX) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) for the Senate impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington,  (photo credit: JOSHUA ROBERTS / REUTERS)
U.S. house Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announces the House of Representatives managers, including Reps'. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Slyvia Garcia (D-TX) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) for the Senate impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington,
(photo credit: JOSHUA ROBERTS / REUTERS)
US congressional Democrats on Monday plan to unveil a sweeping package of legislation to combat police violence and racial injustice, after two weeks of protests across the nation sparked by George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody.
The proposal is expected to ban police choke-holds and racial profiling, require nationwide use of body cameras, subject police to civilian review boards and abolish the legal doctrine known as qualified immunity, which protects police from civil litigation, according to congressional sources.
"It is time for police culture in many departments to change," Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Representative Karen Bass, told CNN on Sunday.
She added that she hoped the wave of largely peaceful protests seen across the United States over the past two weeks would increase pressure on lawmakers to act.
"We're in a real moment in our country, the passion that the people are displaying," Bass added. "That it is going to lay the basis for the momentum for us to bring about the change that we need to do."
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kamala Harris along with Bass are expected to discuss the bill at a 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) briefing.
It is unclear if the proposal will receive support from Republicans, who control the U.S. Senate. Their support and that of Republican President Donald Trump would be needed for the measure to become law.
Floyd's death in Minneapolis, where a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, was the latest in a string of killings of black men and women by U.S. police that have sparked anger on America's streets and fresh calls for reform.