He also admitted that the USA is far from where it needs to be in terms of resolving issues between police and the communities they serve.
Advertisement
“The more police departments know the communities and get to know those communities ahead of time, the more trust is built”, Obama said.
He said he wanted Americans to have an open heart so that they can learn to look at the world through each other’s eyes, and Wednesday’s meeting with about three dozen elected officials, law enforcement representatives and community activists, including Black Lives Matter, followed that theme.
The divide between police and the black community was brought into stark focus last week when a man, angry about killings by police of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, shot and killed five police officers in Dallas at a demonstration.
Obama called the meeting following the killing of five police officers in Dallas in a racially motivated sniper attack.
Obama spoke as part of a Disney Media Networks town hall titled “The President and the People: A National Conversation”, which aired Thursday at 8 p.m. ET and was simulcast commercial-free on ABC, ESPN, Freeform, ABCNews.com, Freeform Digital, Watch ABC, Watch ESPN, Yahoo, ABC News’ Facebook page and YouTube channel as well as ABC Radio and ESPN Radio.
“We’re getting ready for you Salvy”, Earnest says, in a nod to Royals catcher Salvador Perez, who douses teammates with Gatorade or water after winning home games.
“From the law enforcement perspective, we hear it, we understand it”, said Terry Cunningham, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
I have many qualms about Barack Obamas presidency. Some of his comments raised concern, notably the challenge for protesters to “serve [their] community” by joining the police force, telling them to “Get off of the protest line and put your application in”.
“They have to want to do this before tragedy happens”.
Biden said Obama asked the police officials at the meeting: “Fellas, what do you think I’m not doing?”
“We have to as a country sit down and just grind it out”.
Protestors rally during a Black Lives Matter demonstration, July 10, 2016, in Cincinnati.
Advertisement
“The roots of the problems we saw this week date back not just decades, date back centuries”, Obama said. As Ta-Nehisi Coates explained in The Atlantic, a willingness to tackle how racism has influenced policing in this country isn’t just important, but necessary to keep both citizens and police officers safe.
