Biden bemoans breach between cops and their communities

The United States must “repair the breach” between police and the communities they serve, Vice President Biden argued Monday during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech.

{mosads}”We need to agree in this nation on two basic statements of truth,” Biden said during a speech to the Organization of Minority Women in Delaware. “Cops have a right to go home at night to see their families. And two, all minorities, no matter what their neighborhood, have a right to be treated with respect and with dignity. All life matters.”

In the wake of police killings of unarmed black suspects in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island — as well as the assassination of two New York City police officers — Biden said both sides have “got to start seeing one another.”

“We have to recognize the black male on the corner is also a kid who likes to draw and might turn out to be a great artist one day,” Biden said. “We also have to recognize that cop on the beat is also a mom who plays basketball.”

“There are bad actors every place you go,” the vice president added. “But the majority of people are decent.”

Biden bemoaned crime and violence, and said that the concerns of parents were compounded by “the fear that your child may be presumed to be a gang member or a suspect or someone in authority looking at that child and seeing only a profile.”

At the same time, he said communities must do more to recognize the “humanity” of law enforcement officers.

“We can solve this problem,” Biden said. “Let’s not forget who we are and what we’ve done … we have come very, very far.”

The Obama administration has taken a number of steps intended to improve relations between minority communities and police in the wake of the high-profile shootings and the protests they sparked.

On Friday, the president ordered new regulations governing the sale of military surplus equipment to local police forces.

He’s also asked for funding that could purchase 50,000 body-worn cameras for police officers, something for which the family of slain 18-year-old Michael Brown has lobbied. And Obama impaneled a new task force, led by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and former Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson, to examine the issue of police and community mistrust. The group held its first meeting earlier this month in Washington.