Bob Ellison, Walls Communications

202/333-6181, bellison@wallscomm.com

Leslie A. Dunbar, National Urban League

(212)558-5438,ldunbar@nul.org

Washington, DC, March 15, 2000–National Urban League President Hugh B. Price, along with leaders from the NAACP, the National Council of La Raza, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union, announced today the introduction of the proposed Law Enforcement Trust & Integrity Act (LETIA), a bill designed to build better relationships between police departments and the communities they serve.

Drafted by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. — the ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives — LETIA addresses police misconduct, racial profiling, civilian deaths in custody, and whistleblower protection for officers who disclose issues of police misconduct. The coalition of civil rights organizations played a central role in designing appropriate measures to remedy the perception and the reality that some law enforcement officials continue to violate federal civil rights laws.

"The need for the Law Enforcement Trust & Integrity Act grew out of the rising number of incidents across the nation of police misconduct and abuse and the outcome of cases where officers have fatally wounded unarmed civilians, particularly citizens of color," Price said.

— more —

"To that end, LETIA calls for establishing a National Task Force On Law Enforcement Oversight within the Department of Justice to coordinate the investigation, prosecution and enforcement efforts of federal, state and local governments on cases related to law enforcement misconduct."

Price has been at the forefront of police issues for the past year. On Feb. 25, 1999, shortly after the shooting of Amadou Diallo, he called together civil rights groups for a press conference to bring attention to the case and demanded more aggressive oversight by President Clinton and the US Department of Justice.

Just two weeks ago, Price renewed his call. He urged the President and Attorney General Janet Reno to use the federal government’s leverage to compel local police departments to reform their policies and practices regarding the recruitment, training and supervision of police officers. He has monitored the administration closely in this regard. On March 3, Price issued an evaluation of the progress that the US Department of Justice has made to date. For copies of that report, visit the league’s Web site at www.nul.org/resource.html.

Price said the next move for the coalition of civil rights groups is to schedule a Congressional hearing so that the full committee can consider the bill.

Founded in 1910, the National Urban League is a nonprofit organization whose 115 affiliates in 35 states and the District of Columbia provide direct services focused on empowering African-Americans to achieve economic, academic and racial equality. The League’s headquarters is located at 120 Wall Street in New York City.