President Donald Trump held a press conference today (June 16) in the Rose Garden at the White House to sign an executive order providing his strategy for restoring, renewing and rebuilding communities through police reform.
Joined by several law enforcement professionals and community leaders in the audience (very few of whom wore protective masks) Trump started his speech saying that he had just concluded a meeting with the families of several Black victims who had died at the hands of police.
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The families of Ahmaud Arbery, Botham Jean, Antoine Rose Jr., Jamelle Roberson, Attianna Jefferson, Michael Dean, Darius Tarver, Cameron Lamb and Everett Palmer Jr., who, the President called, “incredible people” were there to meet with Trump and presumably express their thoughts on bringing about change in the way police interact with Black citizens.
The executive order signed today, however, includes a call for accountability and transparency within police forces across the country as well as better police training, more community engagement and the resources needed to hire more co-responders and social workers to work in collaboration with police departments to handle those with mental health or addiction issues.
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Watch today's press conference here:
In an effort to bring community and law enforcement together, Trump’s executive order also includes:
Having the Attorney General’s office create a database to coordinate the sharing of information between and among Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies concerning instances of excessive use of force.