Without major changes in almost every state, a national police misconduct database like what the White House and Congress have proposed after George Floyd’s death would fail to account for thousands of problem officers.
The outlook for a policing bill is newly uncertain after Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a Republican proposal from moving forward.
The House approved a far-reaching police overhaul from Democrats on Thursday, but it has almost zero chance of becoming law.
Any eventual registry that emerges would depend on states reporting into it. But states and police departments track misconduct very differently. And some states currently don’t track it at all.
