Biden administration updating police use-of-force guidelines on George Floyd anniversary

May 24 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order updating the use of force policy for federal law enforcement agents, on the heels of a Justice Department memo directing them to intervene if they see a fellow officer using excessive force.

The Grio, The New York Times and CNN, citing unnamed sources, reported Tuesday that Biden will sign the order Wednesday, the two-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

White House officials started looking toward possible executive actions last year after negotiations with Congress for legislation to accomplish similar goals fell apart, Axios reported.

The order is expected to require all federal agencies to revise their use-of-force policies, establish new hiring and data collection guidelines, restrict transfer of most military equipment to police departments and encourage tightened restrictions on chokeholds and no-knock warrants at the state and local levels.

The Justice Department, meanwhile, has started circulating a memo, dated Friday, among rank-and-file agents with the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive, U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Prisons about what to do when they witness excessive force.

Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote that the updated policy draws from the 2020 National Consensus Policy on Use of Force, drafted by a coalition of 11 major law enforcement groups representing federal, state and local law enforcement officers.

"The policy reflects the excellence we have come to expect from the department's officers and agents while protecting their safety and the safety of the people and communities we serve," Garland said in the memo.

"I am grateful to the department's law enforcement components for your time and valuable input throughout this process."

The policy will take effect on July 19. It does not order state and local police or federal law enforcement agencies outside the Justice Department to follow a similar standard.

The memo states that federal law enforcement officers also have a duty to act if they see someone who needs medical care.

"It's the modernization of policing, and you need to update policies to reflect what's going on in our country," Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, told The Washington Post.

"Every officer that's a good officer is always going to try to do their jobs to the best of their ability, and this reinforces what the men and women in federal law enforcement are already doing," Cosme said.