President Donald Trump said Monday at the White House he wanted to work with law enforcement officials to find a more gentle way to enforce the law.
“We’re going to work and we’re going to talk about ideas, how we can do it better, and how we can do it, if possible, in a much more gentle fashion,” Trump said during a roundtable meeting in State Dining Room with members of law enforcement officials.
The president met with the President of the International Association of Chiefs, Police Chief Steven Casstevens, and the National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, Pat Yoes.
Others visiting the White House included Sheriff Tony Childress of Livingston County, IL, and Sergeant Rob Pride of the Loveland Police Department in Colorado, as well as Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
The group universally condemned the use of force against by a Minneapolis police officer against George Floyd, sparking several sustained days of protests, looting, and rioting in major cities across the United States.
The president repeatedly denounced the idea of defunding police departments, a demand from radical left organizers including Black Lives Matter.
“There won’t be defunding. There won’t be dismantling of our police. There’s not going to be any disbanding of our police,” Trump said.
Trump said that 99 percent of police officers were “great, great people” but said it was important to stop bad officers.
“Our police have been letting us live in peace, and we want to make sure we don’t have any bad actors in there,” he said.
Some of the items discussed included police officers working closer with communities. Other proposals included de-escalation training, the prohibition of physical restraint maneuvers on the neck as well as physical acts restricting the flow of blood or oxygen to the brain and requiring officers to render medical aid to people.
Trump’s son-in-law and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner spoke at the meeting and said that he wanted to accomplish a similar successful push for changes in policing as the White House did with criminal justice reform.
“What we’ve seen in the past is that the meetings together and the work together doesn’t just result in reports and nice talking points. It actually results in progress and actual policies that make people’s lives better and make communities safer,” he said.
Vice President Mike Pence recalled members of his own family who were police officers who represented the “best of America.”
“We’re here to listen,” he said, thanking the law enforcement officers present for the meeting.
Pence also cited the success of criminal justice reform as proof that the Trump administration could get something done on updated policing tactics.
“I’m also very grateful, Mr. president, to hear this afternoon a desire to have a conversation about how we can improve,” he said.
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