President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order for police reform that includes a national database on troubled police officers who have many complaints from the public.
The executive order comes on the heels of a series of violent incidents involving unarmed Black men killed at the hands of police across the country.
The executive order also urges departments to train their officers with emphasis on de-escalation tactics and banning or limiting the use of chokeholds in incidents where lethal force is allowed by law.
Trump was unapologetic about his defense of the police. He said he was against defunding police departments.
“I strongly oppose the radical and dangerous efforts to defund, dismantle and dissolve our police departments,” Trump said. “Americans know the truth — without police, there is chaos. Without law, there is anarchy. And without safety, there is catastrophe.”
Trump also met with the families of Black people killed at the hands of police before he spoke to reporters in the Rose Garden.
Former President Obama official Van Jones said Trump’s speech went left at times, but the executive order pointed the country in the right direction.
“The speech had elements in it that were not good,” Jones said. “But the executive order is pointing in the right direction, and we need to keep pushing forward to get more and more done.
Former Richmond, Va. police officer Joe Ested, author of “Police Brutality Matters,” told Fox News those policies already exist within police departments. He said the policies are not being enforced. Police who violate civil rights are not being punished.
