Mr Holder spoke at a church where civil rights leader Martin Luther King once preached
Source: BBC
US Attorney General Eric Holder has announced plans to “help end racial profiling once and for all”.
He was speaking in Atlanta in the wake of mass protests surrounding the shooting dead of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white policeman.
Mr Holder was speaking at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where Martin Luther King preached.
President Barack Obama has requested funds to improve training and provide body cameras for the police.
The shooting of Mr Brown in August in Ferguson, Missouri, has reignited tension over relations between young African-Americans and the police.
Most of Ferguson’s police are white, while the town’s residents are mainly black.
A grand jury’s decision last week not to charge police officer Darren Wilson over Mr Brown’s death sparked violence across the US.
A mass walkout was held on Monday as employees stopped work and students left classes.
‘Occupying force’
Mr Holder was in Atlanta to meet law enforcement officials and community leaders at the request of President Obama.
In a speech during a forum titled “The Community Speaks”, Mr Holder said that the police cannot be seen as an “occupying force”. The issue, he said, was larger than just the police in the community.
“Our overall system of justice must be strengthened and it must be made more fair,” he said.
Categories: Americas, Racism, Universal Brotherhood
Obama Requests Funds for Police Body Cameras to Address ‘Simmering Distrust’ After Ferguson
He proposed a camera-and-training plan with a bill of $263 million
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President Barack Obama proposed significant new funding Monday for police body cameras and training with military equipment in a bid to address the “simmering distrust” between officers and minority communities following the August shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a white cop in Missouri.
The initiative, which would require congressional approval and for which the White House has requested $263 million, would dedicate $75 million over three years for 50,000 body cameras and match state funding by half. Additional training for military equipment used by law enforcement personnel would be prioritized, too.
Obama’s remarks followed his scheduled meeting with Cabinet members, civil rights leaders and law enforcement officials, and one week after the announcement that a grand jury would not indict Darren Wilson, the now-resigned cop who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.
https://time.com/3613058/obama-ferguson-police-body-cameras-funding/