English subtitles for clip: File:President Obama Meets with the Task Force on 21st Century Policing.webm

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The President: Last year, the
events in Ferguson and New York

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exposed a deep-rooted
frustration in many communities

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of color around the need for
fair and just law enforcement.

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And so back in December, I
announced a Task Force on

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21st Century Policing, chaired
by two outstanding leaders who

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are respected both in law
enforcement and in civil rights

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circles -- Philadelphia Police
Commissioner Charles Ramsey,

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and former Assistant Attorney
General Laurie Robinson.

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And I asked them to help to
form a task force made up

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of community leaders, law
enforcement leaders, academics,

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practitioners, and to come up in
90 days with a very specific set

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of recommendations that would
allow us to continue to drive

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crime down, to continue to
deal with issues of community

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building, but would begin to
build the kind of trust that

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we need in order to continue to
make progress in the future.

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For the last few months,
they've been holding hearings.

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They met with people who care
passionately about these issues;

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they've debated recommendations
thoughtfully and deliberately.

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Some put their lives on
hold for more than two

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months to do this.

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I am extraordinarily
grateful for their efforts.

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This morning, they presented to
me their report, which will

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be available online
for everybody to see.

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It offers pragmatic,
common-sense ideas based

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on input from criminal justice
experts, community leaders, law

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enforcement, and civil
liberties advocates.

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We are carefully reviewing all
their recommendations, which

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include very specific
recommendations, more general

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recommendations, everything from
training issues to technology

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issues, to approaches for
interacting with schools,

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to how we get research and data.

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But I want to summarize just a
few key points that were made

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so that people are very clear
about the direction

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that we're going to be moving.

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Number one, I think uniformly,
the task force talked about

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the issue of legitimacy as being
important not just for the

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communities, but also for law
enforcement officers; that

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the more there is trust between
communities and law enforcement,

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the safer it is for cops, the
more effectively they can do

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their jobs, the more cooperation
there's going to be, the more

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likely those communities
are to be safe.

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And so there is no theoretical
separation between the interests

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of community and
law enforcement.

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But obviously the devil is in
the details, and we've got

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to figure out how to
make that work.

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Number two, there was a great
emphasis on the need

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to collect more data.

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Across this country,
we've got

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18,000 law enforcement jurisdictions.

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Right now, we do not have a good
sense, and local communities

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do not have a good sense,
of how frequently

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there may be interactions with
police and community members

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that result in a death,
result in a shooting.

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That's the kind of information
that is needed for police

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departments to do their job, to
be able to manage their forces

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effectively, and for communities
to be able to evaluate

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and provide appropriate
oversight to the folks

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who are supposed to be serving and protecting them.

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There was a lot of discussion
about the need for expanding

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and enhancing community
policing that we know works.

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When I had several law
enforcement officers from around

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the country the other day,
almost all of them --

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and this is a diverse group,
some from big cities,

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some from small communities,
some from tribal areas --

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they all discussed the need for
police officers to be engaged

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with the community, not just in
a stop but also in a school,

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also working with children,
also being seen as enhancing

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the life of the community beyond
law enforcement.

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That trust then enhances their
ability to do a good job.

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And that's an area that was
emphasized by this task force.

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There's a great
interest in training.

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We know some things that work.

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We need more information to find
out how to take to scale best

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practices when it comes to
training so that police officers

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are able to work in a way that
reduces the possibilities

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of bias, that allows them to
deal with what are very

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stressful situations.

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Oftentimes the police officers
have extraordinarily difficult

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jobs; they may be put in
situations in which there's

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a lot of tension, and how do
they deal with that

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appropriately, and how do
they work with the community

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effectively to mitigate some of
those challenges.

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There are going to be some
controversial recommendations

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in here.

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For example, the need for
independent investigations and

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independent special prosecutors
when there is a situation

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in which law enforcement has
interacted with an individual

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that results in death.

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I'm going to give Laurie
some water right now.

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(laughter)

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I think it's important --
she's been working very hard.

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(laughter)

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And Michelle
has that same cough.

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But the importance of making
sure that there is a sense

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of accountability when, in
fact, law enforcement

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is involved in a deadly
shooting is something that

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I think communities across
the board are going

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to need to consider.

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There were some
recommendations around

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prohibiting racial profiling.

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That's a step that we've already
taken at the federal level.

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If you talk to the FBI, if
you talk to our federal law

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enforcement, it may be
challenging for them to change

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old practices, but they are
confident that they're able

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to continue to do their
job effectively.

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The same is going to be true at
the local level as long as it

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is an intentional policy coming
from the top that is followed up

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with key metrics so the people
know exactly what is going on.

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And then there's some
discussions of technology.

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There's been a lot of talk about
body cameras as a silver bullet

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or a solution.

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I think the task force concluded
that there is a role

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for technology to play in
building additional trust

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and accountability, but it's not
a panacea, and that it has to be

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embedded in a broader change in
culture and a legal framework

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that ensures that people's
privacy is respected and that

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not only police officers but
the community themselves feel

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comfortable with how
technologies are being used.

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There's some additional
recommendations

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that are very specific.

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For example, how law enforcement
handles mass demonstrations.

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I think there was a lot of
concern that bubbled up

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in the wake of Ferguson.

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The federal government has
already taken it upon itself to

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look at how we are dealing with
providing military equipment

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to local law enforcement
and how that may be used.

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There are some recommendations
that deal with civilian

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oversight and how
that might be managed.

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The point is that this report
is going to contain a series

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of very specific, concrete,
common-sense efforts for us

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to build trust.

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It will be good for police
and it will be good

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for the communities involved.

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And as a consequence, it
will be good for the country.

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Everybody wants our streets safe
and everybody wants to make

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sure that laws are applied
fairly and equitably.

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Nobody, by the way,
wants that more than

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law enforcement
themselves.

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I was keenly interested in
hearing from some of our law

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enforcement representatives who
talked about how important

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it is for police to feel as if
the community supports them,

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because they got into law
enforcement to serve

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and protect, not to be viewed as
some external force.

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And unfortunately, sometimes
policies, politics, politicians

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put law enforcement in
an untenable position.

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There was some discussion within
the report about how we have to

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look at the broader context
in which law enforcement

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is happening.

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Our approach to our drug laws,
for example, and criminalization

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of nonviolent offenses rather
than taking more of a public

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health approach -- that may be
something that has an impact

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in eroding trust between law
enforcement and communities.

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Broader issues of poverty and
isolation may have an impact.

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I emphasized to the task force
that I think it's important for

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us to recognize that context,
but I don't want us to have such

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a 40,000-foot argument that we
lose track of the very specific

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concrete practices that can be
instituted right now that will

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make a difference.

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Now, last point I'll make.

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Most of the recommendations that
have been made are directed

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at the 18,000 law
enforcement jurisdictions

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that are out there.

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Law enforcement is largely a
local function as opposed

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to a federal function.

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Many of the recommendations that
have been made for changes

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in federal practice we
already have entrain.

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Those that we do not yet have
entrain, that we have not yet

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implemented, I'm going to be
asking Eric Holder

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and the Justice Department and
his successor to go through all

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these recommendations so that
we can start implementing them.

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I know that one area that's
going to be of great interest is

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whether we can expand the COPS
program that in the past has

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been very effective, continues
to be effective, but is largely

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underfunded -- to see if we can
get more incentives for local

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communities to apply some of the
best practices and lessons that

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are embodied in this report.

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But a lot of our work is going
to involve local police chiefs,

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local elected officials, states
recognizing that the moment

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is now for us to make
these changes.

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We have a great opportunity,
coming out of some great

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conflict and tragedy, to really
transform how we think about

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community law enforcement
relations so that everybody

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feels safer and our law
enforcement officers feel,

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rather than being embattled,
feel fully supported.

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We need to seize
that opportunity.

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And so this is something that
I'm going to stay very focused

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on in the months to come.

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I'm going to be pushing my
Justice Department and the COPS

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program and others to
continue to work on it.

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But I want to close by
just once again saying

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thank you to the
extraordinary contributions

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that have been made by
this task force.

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I expect our friends in the
media to really focus on what's

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in this report and
pay attention to it.

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So often we see an event that's
flashy; it makes the news;

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people are crying
out for solutions.

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And by the time recommendations
are put forward, our focus has

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moved on and we don't actually
see and pay attention to the

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concrete ways that we can
improve the situation.

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This is a moment where a
lot of work has been done.

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There's some good answers to
be had if we don't make this

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a political football or
sensationalize it,

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but rather really focus on
getting the job done.

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So I appreciate
everybody's efforts.

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I'm going to be
focused on it.

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I hope you
will be, too.

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Thank you very
much, everybody.

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Thank you.