Police officers too often 'scapegoated' for problems in society, Obama says

[Luke Skywalker]

{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:

Get the news
Log In or Subscribe to skip

120 5 [h=6]Share This Story![/h]Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about

[h=4]Police officers too often 'scapegoated' for problems in society, Obama says[/h]Urging more gun safety measures, Obama says he doesn't want to take everybody's guns away.

{# #}
[h=4]Sent![/h]A link has been sent to your friend's email address.



[h=4]Posted![/h]A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.



[h=6]Join the Nation's Conversation[/h]To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs

[h=2]UP NEXT[/h][h=2]03[/h]


President Obama spoke to the International Association of Chiefs of Police offering his support for those that defend communities across the country. Obama called for additional police and gun reform as well as confronting overcrowded prisons. (Oct. AP


President Obama speaks at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference and Exposition in Chicago Tuesday.(Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM, AFP/Getty Images)


President Obama told a gathering of police chiefs in Chicago Tuesday that they can reduce violent crime while also being more sensitive to minority communities.
"I reject any narrative that seeks to divide police and communities that they serve. I reject a storyline that says when it comes to public safety there's an 'us' and a 'them' — a narrative that too often gets served up to us by news stations seeking ratings, or tweets seeking retweets, or political candidates seeking some attention," Obama told the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Obama said police officers have helped make America safer, "and that's something for which every American should be proud." But he also called for "a serious and robust debate over fairness in law enforcement, over our broader criminal justice system when it comes particularly to communities of color."
POLICING THE USA
Policing the USA




Obama stopped in Chicago on a national tour to urge Congress to make changes in the criminal justice system. But he also addressed three of the most controversial topics in law enforcement: police use of force in in minority communities, the spiking violence in some urban areas, and the mass shootings that have triggered renewed calls for fun control efforts.
Those debates have put Obama on a tightrope as he's defended the "Black Lives Matter" movement while also encouraging police to continue to attack violent crime.
USA TODAY
Obama is chalking up the budget agreement as a win for his side




In his speech to police, Obama said that police officers "want to do the right thing."
"Too often, law enforcement gets scapegoated for the broader failures of our society and criminal justice system. I know that you do your jobs with distinction no matter the challenges you face. That's part of wearing the badge," he said.
Obama also called on Congress to pass gun safety measures, noting that more than 400,000 Americans have been killed in gun violence since 2001. "That's like losing the entire population of Cleveland or Minneapolis over the past 14 years," he said. And 32 police officers have been shot and killed just this year, he said.
"I know we won't all agree on this issue. But it's time to be honest. Fewer gun safety laws don't mean more freedom, they mean more fallen officers," he said.
Obama said he doesn't want to take everybody's guns away.
"Every time a mass shooting happens, one of the saddest ironies is that suddenly the purchase of firearms and ammunition jumps up because folks are scared into thinking that Obama is going to use this as an excuse to take away our Second Amendment rights. Nobody is doing that. We're talking about common-sense measures to make sure criminals don't get them, to make sure background checks work, to make sure that we're protecting ourselves."
He also dismissed a critique of gun control policies that point to Chicago as an example of failed gun laws. "They say, well, look, Chicago had a spike in homicides this year, they've got gun safety laws, so this must be proof that tougher gun safety laws don't help, maybe make things worse," Obama said. "The problem with that argument, as the Chicago Police Department will tell you, is that 60% of guns recovered in crimes come from out of state. You've just got to hop across the border."
Obama did not address another argument that many cities — including Chicago — are seeing a spike in gun violence as part of what some are calling the "Ferguson Effect."
FBI Director James Comey put his weight behind that theory last week, saying that protests following a fatal police shooting of a black man in Ferguson, Mo. last year have sent "a chill wind that has been blowing through law enforcement over the past year, and that wind is surely changing behavior."
The White House does not agree, spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters en route to Chicago. "The available body of evidence does not support the notion that law enforcement officers around the country are shying away from doing their jobs," he said.
0) { %> 0) { %>
0) { %>




Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed