New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a 14-term incumbent and a fixture in his hometown of Paterson for more than four decades, died Wednesday at 87. Pascrell was Co-Chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus and the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, His office said that he had "fought to stop repeated attempts to decimate public safety officer programs." Pascrell was a longtime supporter of "community policing that prioritizes listening, community relationships, trust, and de-escalation to keeping our communities safe," his website says.
He was a sponsor of the Justice in Policing Act, which would outlaw racial profiling, mandate de-escalation training, ban chokeholds and other violent techniques, halt the flow of military equipment to localities and bring more transparency and accountability to policing. The measure has failed to win congressional approval. Pascrell was the principal sponsor of a bill to reauthorize the federal Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program, which authorizing $30,000,000 annually. Since its inception in 1999, the program has provided funding to more than 13,000 state and local law enforcement agencies, allowing for the purchase of over one million bulletproof vests. The Government Accountability Office says that more than 3,000 law enforcement officer lives have been saved by armored vests since 1987.
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