Obama looks to bridge divide on policing

President Obama called in his State of the Union address for the two sides of the debate over how the criminal justice system treats minority communities to come together.

“We may have different takes on the events of Ferguson and New York,” he said, referring to two cases where the white police officers who killed unarmed black men were not indicted. “But surely we can understand a father who fears his son can’t walk home without being harassed. Surely we can understand the wife who won’t rest until the police officer she married walks through the front door at the end of his shift.”

“Surely we can agree it’s a good thing that, for the first time in 40 years, the crime rate and the incarceration rate have come down together, and use that as a starting point for Democrats and Republicans, community leaders and law enforcement, to reform America’s criminal justice system so that it protects and serves all of us,” he said, to applause from both side of the aisle.

His call for criminal justice reform echoes comments he made at his end-of-the-year press conference in December.

In recent years, lawmakers from both parties and a variety of ideologies have looked to reform different parts of the criminal justice system.

Many have paid attention to America’s overflowing prison system, with members like Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) backing reforms to mandatory minimum sentencing laws for nonviolent drug offenses that have contributed to the disproportionate incarceration of black and Hispanic people.

There will also likely be more moderate proposals in the next year aimed at reducing the prison population nationwide.

His comments also come after a protest movement emerged following the cases in Ferguson, Mo., and New York City calling for change to what protesters see as a disparity in the way police officers treat minorities.

The president has called for new funding for additional body cameras to be worn by officers, and there have been steps in Congress to increase the amount of data that is recorded on how the police use force.