WASHINGTON, D.C. (WCBD) – Senator Tim Scott was one of four republican senators on Wednesday to reintroduce the Walter Scott Notification Act, which would require “States receiving federal law enforcement funding” to provide detailed reports on officer-involved shootings.
The reports would include “name, race, description of event, and overall circumstances that led up to the weapon being discharged.” If a state failed to comply, they could face a 10% reduction in federal grant funds.
The bill was first introduced by Scott following the 2015 shooting of Walter Scott by a North Charleston Police Department officer. Since then, the bill has been reintroduced multiple times, “including as an amendment to the criminal justice reform package passed by Congress in December 2018.”
Scott reintroduced the bill in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, and the subsequent protests that have swept the country. Scott said “when it comes to race and justice in this nation, solutions are needed now…The fact is, without proper data in regards to officer-related shootings, we cannot find lasting solutions in this area.”
