Julián Castro focuses on police reform in his latest policy outline

Former Housing Secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro is a policy machine.

Castro, who remains a longshot for the nomination, released his third major policy proposal in recent months on Monday with an outline tackling issues related to police reform. He has already unveiled sweeping plans focused on immigration and education.

Castro's "people first" policing platform is divided up into three major categories: ending over-aggressive and racially discriminatory policing, transparency and accountability, and initiating the healing process between law enforcement and communities. Most of the points presented are fairly straightforward; for example, Castro wants to hold police to a nationwide minimum standard that restricts the use of deadly force, save for unavoidable scenarios, and he supports the establishment of more civilian oversight boards to improve community oversight of police departments.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

He also wants to establish a public national database that tracks all police officers who have been decertified in any state or locality in the country and collect — and make public — disaggregated data on all detentions, stops, frisks, searches, summons, and arrests. Read Castro's full plan on his campaign website.