Biden Says 'Institutional Racism' Still Exists in Policing
Biden made the comments to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.
— -- Vice President Joe Biden said police need better training and "institutional racism" has to be addressed in order to calm fear and anxiety in communities.
"We’re in a situation where there is a great deal of fear as well as anxiety on both the part of the communities in distress as well as the police," he told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos today, in the wake of five cops being killed in Dallas and two controversial fatal police-involved shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota.
Biden and President Barack Obama met with major police organizations today.
"They talked about the need for better training. They talked about the need to train in de-escalation. They talked about the need for us to reach out and be more supportive in terms of what we say about the risk they’re taking and they talked about needing to reach out to the communities to acknowledge the fear and apprehension that exist in the communities," he said. "And I agreed that with the president’s permission that I’m going to reconstitute this meeting 10 to 12 days from now with an agenda and we’re gonna work through the kinds of things that they need help on and what they’re going to do to reach out as well."
Biden complimented the Dallas Police Department for their restraint during the shooting and skill at de-escalation.
He said the frustration in the African-American community must be addressed and "institutional racism" continues to exist.
"What does matter is that the frustration that exists in African-American community of the institutional racism that’s been around forever and ever in the United States and still exists in application of some of the laws has to be addressed. And it’s real. And some of the police organizations that I met with today, the president met with, acknowledged that," Biden said.
"I think for anyone to suggest that there is not inappropriate behavior in a small percentage of the police departments, police men and women, is just not being realistic and so what Black Lives Matter large is about, is acknowledging the institutional racism that remains," he said. "But the vast majority of the 18,000 police departments you know, they in fact apply the law equally and well, but it does exist."
The vice president also did not rule out traveling to Baton Rouge or Minnesota as the discussion continues.
Related Topics
Related Stories
ABC News Live