Sec. Julian Castro (D) will take the stage on June 26thto not only debate 9 other Democratic candidates but to also highlight his “People First” plan.
At the end of last week, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development took to twitter to comment on the police, which is an issue he is focusing on in his platform with his police reform plan.
While some critics argue that he and his brother, Texas rep. Joaquin Castro (D), are targeting unjustly targeting the police, others have championed the reform.
On Twitter, Castro shared a video of his recent involvement in a Town Hall.
In the video, he discusses the police, and in the post, he questioned “how many videos of police misconduct do we have to watch before we realize this isn’t a case of a few bad apples?”
How many videos of police misconduct do we have to watch before we realize this isn’t a case of a few bad apples? The system is broken—but I’ve put forward a plan to mend the relationship between police departments and the communities they serve. #CastroTownHall pic.twitter.com/eVKpNhy4Ff
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) June 14, 2019
He added that “the system is broken – but I’ve put forward a plan to mend the relationship between police departments and the communities they serve.”
Over the weekend, rep. Joaquin Castro also commented on an NBC News story concerning an incident involving 6 police officers in Vallejo California.
An independent use-of-force report documented that 55 shots were fired at a man in his car, and they were fired in 3.5 seconds.
To this, Joaquin simply commented that “the system is broken.”
The system is broken. https://t.co/z84PFcWEMK
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) June 17, 2019
In Julian Castro’s "People First Policing Plan," he has three goals that he would like to achieve, which are to end “over-aggressive policing,” hold the police accountable in those cases and to restore the divide between law enforcement and communities.
Setting a standard for police departments that receive federal funding, Castro argues that combatting “over-aggressive policing” will involve limiting the use of deadly force to when “there is an imminent threat to the life of another person, and all other reasonable alternatives have been exhausted.” In addition, his call will enact body cameras to be used, anti-bias training and legislation that would prohibit “stop and frisk” policies from being used.
In creating accountability among officers, Julian would create a public national database with officers that have been decertified to collect better data on police stops.
Finally, to bridge the divide between the police and communities, Julian is asking to “demilitarize the police” through an executive order that would prevent officers from obtaining items including tracked and wheeled armored vehicles and high-caliber rifles.
