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The President: Some of you may have heard
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there was a decision that came out today
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by a grand jury not to indict police officers
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who had interacted with an individual named Eric Garner
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in New York City.
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All of which was caught on videotape
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and speaks to the larger issues that we've been talking about
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now for the last week, the last month, the last year,
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and sadly for decades.
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And that is the concern on the part of too many
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minority communities that law enforcement is not working
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with them and dealing with them in a fair way.
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And there's going to be -- I'm sure additional
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statements by law enforcement.
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My tradition is not to remark on cases where there may be
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still be an investigation.
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But I want everybody to understand that this week
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in the wake of Ferguson, we initiated a task force
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whose job it is to come back to me with specific recommendations
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about how we strengthen the relationship between
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law enforcement and communities of color,
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and minority communities that feel that bias is taking place.
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That we are going to take specific steps to improve
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the training and the work with state and local governments
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when it comes to policing in communities of color.
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That we are going to be scrupulous in investigating
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cases where we are concerned about the impartiality
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and accountability that's taking place.
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And as I said when I met with folks both from Ferguson,
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and law enforcement, and clergy, and civil rights activists;
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I said this is an issue we've been dealing with for too long
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and it's time for us to make more progress than we've made.
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And I'm not interested in talk.
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I'm interested in action.
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And I am absolutely committed as President of the United States
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to making sure that we have a country in which
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everybody believes in the core principle
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that we're equal under the law.
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(applause)
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So, I just got off the phone with my
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Attorney General Eric Holder.
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He will have more specific comments about the
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case in New York.
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But I want everybody to know here as well as everybody
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who may be viewing my remarks here today
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-- we are not going to let up until we see a strengthening
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of the trust and a strengthening of the accountability
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that exists between our communities
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and our law enforcement.
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And I say that as somebody who believes that law enforcement
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has an incredibly difficult job.
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That every man or women in uniform are putting their lives
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at risk to protect us.
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That they have the right to come home just like we do
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from our jobs.
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That there's real crime out there that they've
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got to tackle day in, day out.
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But that they're only going to be able to do their job
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effectively if everybody has confidence in the system.
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And right now unfortunately we are seeing too many instances
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where people just do not have confidence
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that folks are being treated fairly.
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And in some cases those may be misperceptions but in some cases
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that's a reality.
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And it is incumbent about all of us as American's,
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regardless of race, region, faith; that we recognize
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this is an American problem not just a black problem
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or a brown problem or a Native American problem
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this is an American problem.
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When anybody in this country is not being treated equally
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under the law, that's a problem.
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And it's my job as President
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to help solve it.
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(applause)