Police and Missouri National Guardsmen stand guard as protesters gather in front of Ferguson Police Department in Ferguson, Nov. 28, 2014. (AP Photo)
U.S. President Barack Obama is calling for millions of dollars more in federal spending to improve police forces around the country, in response to the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman during a street confrontation in the central town of Ferguson, Missouri.
After meeting at the White House Monday with his Cabinet, civil rights leaders and law enforcement officials, Obama announced spending proposals of more than $260 million for police forces across the U.S. He also said the country needs an honest conversation about the state of law enforcement.
The president said Americans of color do not feel they are being treated fairly by police, creating what he called a “simmering distrust” in communities and weakening the country.
Protests have continued in Ferguson and elsewhere since a grand jury’s decision last week not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Obama said the additional money would pay for 50,000 body cameras for police to wear to record their interactions with civilians, as well as to fund more training for police.
The president also announced he will set up a task force to study how to improve policing.
Obama said federal programs that provide military-style equipment to local police departments must be more accountable, but he did not say whether the programs would be pulled back.
Since August, roughly 300 people have been arrested in Ferguson-related protests, which have been marred by looting and arson attacks. Those arrested face charges of unlawful assembly and trespassing, interfering with police activity and resisting arrest, as well as felonies, including second degree burglary, arson, unlawful firearm possession and assault.
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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Announces Plan to Target Racial Profiling
In the wake of clashes at protests in Ferguson, Missouri, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says new Justice Department guidance will aim to end racial profiling and ensure fair and effective policing.
Holder said in a speech Monday at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta — where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor — that he will unveil details of the plan soon.
“In the coming days, I will announce updated Justice Department guidance regarding profiling by federal law enforcement. This will institute rigorous new standards — and robust safeguards — to help end racial profiling, once and for all,” Holder said. “This new guidance will codify our commitment to the very highest standards of fair and effective policing.”
The president instructed Holder to hold regional meetings on building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve after the conflicts in Ferguson. Monday’s meeting in Atlanta was the first.
Tensions between police and the community in Ferguson boiled over after a white police officer shot an unarmed black teenager in August. Protests turned violent again last week, after a grand jury declined to indict officer Darren Wilson in Michael Brown’s death.
During Holder’s speech, he was interrupted by about a dozen or so protesters holding signs and chanting “No justice, no peace.” Holder let them continue for about two minutes before they were escorted out by security, but then later said, “Let me make one thing clear, I ain’t mad at cha,” referencing the song by the late rapper Tupac.
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Related:
In Ferguson, ‘Nothing Has Changed From 1853. This Is the City of Dred Scott’
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