Special Session of 2020 20rs9101

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 5002
By Representatives Xu, Alcala, Clayton, Curtis, Henderson, Highberger, Holscher, Ohaebosim, Ousley,
L. Ruiz, S. Ruiz, Stogsdill, Warfield, Winn and Yeager

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION condemning all acts of police brutality, racial profiling and the use
of excessive and militarized force throughout the country.
WHEREAS, Police use of force is among the leading causes of death for young men of color;
and
WHEREAS, Black people, including Black women and girls, Native Americans and Latinos are
killed by police at disproportionately higher rates than their White peers; and
WHEREAS, Police brutality and the use of excessive force have robbed countless communities
of precious lives, inflicted intergenerational harm and trauma to families and intensified our Nation's
mental health crisis; and
WHEREAS, The killings of hundreds each year, and the demonstrations that followed, have
brought sustained national attention to the racially biased police violence against people; and
WHEREAS, The conduct of police officers who engage in racial profiling and excessive force,
which can include shootings, brutal beatings, fatal chokings and any other excessive treatment, is a
violation of federal and state constitutional law; and
WHEREAS, The rule of law within our Nation is undermined when police officers engage in
conduct that is inconsistent with federal and state constitutional law; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature of the State of Kansas has a moral and constitutional obligation to
protect the civil rights and liberties of all people within the State of Kansas from police abuses: Now,
therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Kansas, the Senate concurring
 20rs9101
therein: That we support strengthening efforts to eliminate instances of excessive use of force, to
conduct stringent oversight and independent investigations into instances of police brutality, racial
profiling and excessive use of force, and to hold individual law enforcement officers and police
departments accountable, including:
(a) Calling on the United States Department of Justice to:
(1) Reinstitute its role in investigating police departments that violate civil rights and
individual instances of police brutality, violence and racial profiling; and
(2) take on a role in filing briefs urging courts to reconsider decisions that permit
unreasonable and excessive police practices and establish meaningful oversight of consent decrees; and
(b) establishing independent all-civilian review boards with the authority to effectively
investigate incidents of police misconduct to ensure meaningful community-level oversight,
transparency, accountability and discipline of police officers; and
Be it further resolved: That we call for the adoption of sound and unbiased law enforcement
policies at all levels of government that reduce the disparate impact of police brutality and use of force
on Black and Brown people and other historically marginalized communities; and
Be it further resolved: That the Secretary of State shall send an enrolled copy of this resolution
to Representative Xu.