US judge halts work of Trump administration’s policing panel

A federal judge in the United States has halted the work of a policing panel created by President Donald Trump’s administration that aimed to deliver a slate of “law and order” reform proposals before November’s presidential election. In a ruling on Thursday, US District Court Judge John Bates barred the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice from releasing its final report later this month, saying the panel must first meet some legal requirements and rectify its errors. Bates said the government had not satisfied “the obligations in forming and conducting a commission in 2020 to examine the sensitive and important issues affecting American law enforcement and the communities they serve”. The panel was convened by the US Justice Department to deliver on a promise Trump made last year to the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Its 18 commissioners include federal, state and local law enforcement representatives – but no civil rights advocates, defence attorneys or big-city police officials. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">