On April 23, 2021, LDF called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to suspend federal funding to local law enforcement agencies until the Department of Justice can ensure that agencies receiving grants and funding from the DOJ are not violating the anti-discrimination provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Every year, law enforcement agencies across the country receive millions of dollars from the federal government. In 2018 alone, $269 million was available to criminal justice programs, including law enforcement agencies. To receive federal funds and resources, law enforcement agencies are required to comply civil rights and anti-discrimination laws, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and services by recipients of federal financial assistance, including state and local law enforcement agencies.
Law enforcement agencies that violate Title VI and do not comply with the law voluntarily should not be eligible for the receipts of federal grants and funds. But many police departments with documented patterns of violence against communities of color and racial disparities in policing practices have continued to receive federal funding.
Since President Biden was inaugurated, 40 Black people have been killed by law enforcement officials. Seventeen have been killed since Attorney General Garland’s confirmation. The police killings of people of color in recent weeks are stark reminders of the ease with which police deploy deadly force and the reality of police violence in Black and Brown communities. Their deaths are not outliers or anomalies, but part of a longstanding pattern of brutality and violence that characterizes policing in the United States. The ongoing police violence makes clear that the system is fundamentally broken, and urgent action is required.