but specifically their elected to ring gauge because they are above one's head as a result of the police brutality with the kennedy building for what they served together there are too many examples of racial bias and i think the task force is the hope is to continue to solve the problem to make our communities jogger. thank you. >> thanks to the witnesses here. we will start with the questions. >> the key madam chair. and thank you very much that we very much appreciate your perspective.

we have had a problem to identify not just canada but previous panels which is up problem to create a diver's law-enforcement work force. i am curious if any of you particular talk about this. to have a specific recommendation on how that can be done in the context of specific recommendations that you submitted to higher for a diverse pool of applicants then raising the educational requirements i know working with departments across the country in to make that associate's degree requirement.

>> while i am not aware of the programs right now that i could share with you with nursing you have a strong lead in the state of california has an excellent program started with a high schoolers were they provided this trading with the eighth degree so that is how we apply that issue and the gap you are describing and to apply that. >> i think this question is

directly related to the question and we have today because part of what will help that is so critical in the context of civil rights because we believe that committees should be policed but reflects the diversity of that community. and yet in order to attract that diversity those that our eligible to conserve to view that as the good thing something honorable in their community to the extent they see the police officers as an occupying force with your 70 new have been stopped half a dozen times that is not a recipe to make that 17 year old even with an associate's degree want to

work with police officers so in order to recruit it does require that we changed not only the perception of who we are in our community. think of firemen and women they protect and serve in the community and they have a very different reputation. and a wonderful thing to do as an occupation and the challenge for with communities among young people into something that they regard as honorable. but for their brothers and sisters to be at the

cleveland events as a person who lives across the street. with the etf committee college to have college across the board for police officers but it is important to part of the question stemming aphakia for your testimony today. in your submitted testimony talking about over a criminal rates also the interaction and a and to hear you say to end over

criminalization i'd never heard that before so can you explain that a bit? i would love to know the expertise of education and law enforcement had to see the education systems locally and with them and attracting? >> i would love to your talk about that. first of all, broken windows has coincided with significant improvement also with incarceration in that will be careful to say:cited. but it is notable that has

incarceration of higher rates compared to other states. i think it would be fair to say that with the reduction could be this suburban windows. i would be willing to throw the broken windows out to the ftc that erosion of trust over police officers so it seems reasonable to say there is some causation there. not to throw the baby out with the bathwater but i think the simple answer is liberally to thank you could remove any and still go

after one and one is my written testimony and graffiti is a non-violent crime but i don't think there is anything improper as they did in your city 20 years ago and i suspect most would recognize that is the story from the property and that is it to go after. i do think it is possible to have the windows strategy but also pulled back and improved trust that is at

the core of the problem of what we are discussing. >> given the earlier panel with law-enforcement leaders i cannot refer which person talked about the jobs that the officers are given and it extends beyond law-enforcement and i am glad that question was asked about education. the over criminalization has not only permeated the community but the place of opportunity and development and that is the school talking about the pipeline the criminal-justice apparatus and what does that mean? the looks that they get from the police is happening

inside the school building and second police are increasingly used to engaged in disciplinary practices within the school and also students are increasingly being pushed into the criminal-justice system. we found the complaint two years ago were high school students were given in a criminal misdemeanor ticket forswearing for using profane language. that they assure diversity pipeline those who now cannot serve as police officers with the record so if we think of the issue of over komer and -- criminalization the low hanging fruit is the school. we have to deal with the reality we have children who

have needs there for counselors and better instruction form of music and humanities and resources in their community. so to the extent for people to see a future for themselves we have allowed that to pervade communities all over the country to enter the schoolhouse door to take up residence to meet that we should all agree that is something we have to address. >> i completed the agree and i also think the problem around schools cents

children up for failure in makes children on style to police officers when they're thrown out and expelled for these sorts of things. also the federal government has played a powerful role over the pipeline by making the data available to use the community to see which kids are being pushed out a cooperative agreement between the department of justice to show which schools have the greatest problems that data is accessible to the federal government website and empowers the community and we see white kids of color

or those with disabilities are suspended or expelled. that goes back to the point of flight data collection is so essentials. wed communiques have the information they can come together to say we have a problem. right now they are pitted themselves against communities and they're not able to come together around a common set of facts. we just have that from the policing role does wellhouse >> said afternoon. i have a couple of questions usually very early on news spoke to of the recruitment

of police officers. to have the two year degree maybe with a diversity year sociology or something to that effect. correct? and i am an agreement first of all,. but that being centcom there are a number of people who are dialed and to watch this and ask the question if you present that as a recommendation when it comes to police recruit -- recruitment 58 seniors of page so could you elaborate

on that recommendation? why is it so important for recruitment of police officers in this country and in addition the educational tracks that you also did to and that is well to. >> right now we're living in the moment the most diverse people we have ever experienced but also living in a segregated america. and my recommendation is the belief they could take a young kid from rural america

who has never seen a latino and african-american and the full interaction is what they see on tv. is there an opportunity to be introduced to sensitivity? and that majority as well. the more you can expose the officers to the lessons the stronger they are. >> and i have one additional question. i often hear and a half of

this challenge in my community but many do. often times we find it difficult to recruit african americans, hispanics, people of color. in many communities across the country for a variety of reasons. so the question in that i posed the i think is critically important is even though i think any agency should not stop trying to recruit that population and no matter how challenging because it is essentially imported to provide good police service butted absence of that, would any of you agree that you have to have good human beings who are richer, sensitive, a good self-esteem, and a very

strong internal control of selfie and confidence and some life experience with the level of education to suggest they would make a well-rounded individual to go into any community in america whether black or white or hispanic to have a basic fundamental police service. do you have a comment or agree with that? >> dash a gatt would be useful to talk to police chiefs who have diversified their police force with their tactics that work and don't work i think when you were here in washington d.c. that we had the latinos here but there were no latino

police officers but now when you drive through now pleasant you see a much more diverse police department there are those that figured out notwithstanding those bad images how to attract and recruit people. >> but that is not my question. we will figure that out over time but in the interim are we capable to still higher in trade men and women who are capable to provide a good police service regardless of who we are as we move to that diverse population? >> i think young men and women right now have the intention to serve and protect the defenseless but

somewhere along the line did is lost in translation why they cannot do their job but the underlying issue as a country we are no longer, if it was a luxury to figure out this inner-city problem letting california and texas or florida of the majority of children case through 12 are latino or african invasion or asian they are the work force that will fill up the police department soon. we don't have the luxury of time. we have to stop saying it is nice to have. but with police brutality is becoming clear that it is a necessity. that our institutions including law-enforcement reflect that of what it is

today. >> i want to sound a word of caution on this because i am quite capable to keep these in my head at the same time but absolutely must tab diversity in every work force but especially the police force that engages at that level in the community. but diversity is not the silver bullet. there are communities where we have diverse police force is like baltimore right have lived 20 years. we have an excellent police commissioner now but we have our share of problems with policing. we are under review by the department of justice. so to make clear what we're talking about is a culture of policing and black officers and latino officers

are just as capable to adopt a problematic culture. we need to change the culture of policing and you are right. part of the changes identifying the people you were describing. it is interesting we think of them to be a bright and shining 18 years old. remember? we were not that bright. we thought we were. [laughter] we did not know all lot and we needed to richer. i mean this. is a dove, issued a church door homage control you had to develop or learn about human beings. but what we can do is teach them that but we have to be intentional about that. this is what looks like.

but then do we are failing them if we don't provide them with the training that they need to perform at the level we want them to perform at. a bias is something every person in this room has. we walked into room and we start to do shorthand and most of us take the time to learn about another person and the views are sometimes confirmed but often in changed. that is a conscious act. wed reseed a police officer to roll up and shoot a 12 year-old in two seconds, that is a problem so the question is what our retraining of the engaged

your rate police officers to do? what is that package of skills? it is not just the weapon is the psychology to know yourself and how to manage it and that is real work. >> we have a very restricted number of minutes left. >> they keep for your testimony i appreciate you have very specific recommendations but i would ask about those in a particular way. but your recommendations might be characterized as best practices?

would you be willing to offer any ideas about moving beyond best practices to create a structure with those safety is that you offer are more standardized or mandatory for the thousands of police forces across the country? >> when i was trying to suggest it is how over time you change careers. take data collection if you give a grant to a police department then in order to reduce the grand you require certain data and ask questions like how many

people are on the floors or what kind of activities or trading but you could ask specific questions what kind of trading? the escalation in training or specific data about encounters with the mentally ill or the diversity of the police force from one year to the next or civil rights complaints and the question instead you ask about the data you think is important will seep into the department in a divorce suggesting what should be in that culture so if we go back to rome and several -- civil rights history the

those of us from the north know that to the extent that it happened have been largely after 1964 that the federal government's for the first time said they will i give you money unless you desegregate. was the incentive so as a result they engaged in practices to integrate their schools and we were educated during that period but we should on the bias just as best practices but it is a vital tool to transform the deeply embedded culture. >> i agree.

but we do have to write some of these incentives in statutes and some in regulation so greedy to go back to capitol hill to tweak some there not seem just as best practices and we want the executive branch to use its authority of all the items listed there are actions it could take on its own to implement these requirements and to see these as best practices but absolute necessities to reform the culture of police departments and while i have a microphone quickly broken windows policing is wrong.

the target communities of color for the act of a few to go back to individualized suspicion but to describe a community when 90 percent are in gauging with law-abiding activities to call into lawlessness is a self and forcing concept it is about 10 percent have the black population and batting cage in criminal activity ended does that make you engaged in the criminal activity with the notion of broken windows policing that in order for us to change the culture we have to

change that approach to law enforcement and it is unacceptable. >>. >> my question was spoken to so i can pass to save time. >> now we will wrap up the panel. >> fate q. [applause] >> now we will again started with over final panel for this afternoon. we will be hearing from three of the great city mayors here in america and start with kevin johnson from sacramento california also from the council of mayors. >> thank you very much it is an honor and a professor --

pleasure i flew the furthest on the redeye. [laughter] that is so much we care about this issue. [laughter] for 84 the opportunity to appear before you to discuss a topic of great concern to the nation's mayors we're chartered with developing repetition and some are critical to the future of our cities and nations and the quick action in he had to do set as a tight timeline. and for the support of the task force and the strong in productive partnership they have had with the nation's mayors. attorney eric holder and ron davis has shown leadership

and ms. lynch will provide that leadership once she is confirmed as attorney general. i am honored to serve thank glad to be joined on this panel for two outstanding leaders for our organization in respective cities. an initial discussion of what we could learn from ferguson we discuss this further at the mayor and police chief meeting was the 20th anniversary of the cops program in little rock arkansas and the meeting was attended by president clinton in a possible to the generous support of the cops office. following the little rock meeting to be chaired by a

wilson charged a group to develop a set of recommendations intended to improve policing in america all laugh you were present is the co-chair commissioner ramsey in those seated to my left. our group is harder work to finalize the recommendations at the conference in a couple of weeks. so we will give you a confidential preview. [laughter] we want to present it for the first time next week the six areas are building police community trust that is consistent with what we're here today and improving police to the practices and to ensure timely and accurate communication for

independent investigations for racial and economic disparities and provide a national leadership we are pleased your cochairs with your executive director will be with us at the meeting and discuss the recommendations for the full panel as part of the working group. it is important to hear because of issues that we're discussing here today our local issues despite those similarities the challenge must be dealt with within the context of this city's resurvey cannot pretend there is a one-size-fits-all model you have heard that from each of the models.

i am so proud of the committee as elected officials and clergy and community leaders and people for coming together to discuss these issues practically ferguson took place august 90 and 11 days later i convened a huge meeting in sacramento because you want to be practiced -- proactive we have had subsequent meetings and we our product of the work in sacramento i took the feedback shared each meeting to of a public safety task force comprised of elected officials and our community and we're working to implement those.

one is trading to is diversity three is accountability and florida is engaged in they are consistent themes throughout. in terms of training we have strategies around cultural sensitivity in bias in recognition and the escalation techniques. it is not rocket science take-home with that is so we have going for it but in terms of diversity with line officers and with the command structure of race and gender and sexual orientation so the police department reflects which it serves. this city of sacramento is one of the most diverse

unfortunately it does not reflect the community that we are in. in terms of accountability to make sure technology is prevalent looking at transparency reforms for what is extremely important and that hot topic you address as well with independent that there is an opportunity here in orange to bridge conversations and we could advance that topic for ordinaire respectable manner. so the naacp of protest

organizers and use leaders that they will reach every month there is the place to meet on a monthly basis that is the task force that was completed i appointed the public safety task force to oversee the framework. this is consistent with what we do today elevation is to be the safest big city in california i know i would be challenged but the safest big city in california. [laughter] to be the safest says the model for community policing demonstrating a major decrease of crime and the

measurable increase of community engagement. if crime goes down the engaged rate goes up. so think about what has taken place. but what is happening with the unions in the york in the mayor, i don't know what the unique challenges are so all i can say is i want sacramento to be an example to the aa by partnering with the local police units. i am not sure how the web prior but they have to be a vital to build trust and legitimacy and i am proud today that justice mitt is joining me for this meeting

as president of the police association and. give him a round of applause. [applause] i believe secretary is one of the strong as police departments in the country and we're on the frontlines of challenges date in and day out we must have their support we have learnt we cannot make progress unless the police and the community are truly working in lockstep. we're proud to be here today we stand at the crossroads where the best position to bridge the gap among the residents who all of the best for our cities they give for your leadership we stand ready to work with you over the coming months to provide any assistance and

also any questions that you might have. and i will turn over to the past president the one and only michael. [laughter] >> thank you very much to all members of the task force professor ramsey or the cochairs of the task force and president johnson and vice president, it is an honor to testify on such an important issue today. also want to is thank ron

davis your great team members and partners all across the united states of america thank you for your support. and to build stronger relationships with the communities they protect and serve while promoting crime reduction. mengele time they could accomplish a number of things the venture improve the quality of life to increase the feeling with the day to day activity that goes on in our streets to create an environment a shared trusting values with

public safety strategy to talk about the approach when i became mayor in 2008 coming to office this safety would be the number-one issue in philadelphia because without it increase graduation rates attracting businesses and creating jobs would never be possible. we take this approach would of the primary functions calabria for stadia that no city can be great between the government and its citizens. honestly solid ground with the police commissioner charles ramsey.

and across the country knowing that i needed someone who shared my values for a safer and smarter police force and through philadelphia of the entire team assembled the director of public safety with mr. ramsey and his deputy commissioners they have worked together entirely for the last seven years to make this vision and a reality as a long disserving police commissioner 35 years in philadelphia. it is also why we declared crime in emergency on inauguration day. shortly after being sworn in and then to increase safety

within 30 days of inauguration day. it has grown into a strategy of policing is approached since brave men and women in uniform to make philadelphia safer than it was the day before i came into office. of course, a is a relative term especially if you are a resident who hears gunshots outside your home. with 248 homicides we still have a long way to go but since 2007 with the approach in we have seen a dramatic reduction of shootings and all violent crime in the city of philadelphia.

because of these statistics the city has developed an approach that i will share today as my observations. growing up in west philadelphia when there was a time of mistrust when you are sworn to serve their project. when i became mayor i knew in my heart that any corporation or partnership between citizens in the police needed to be out of an understanding but also with the emphasis on moving forward. with philadelphia is version that began with an examination of what could policing it to us.

please could not be seen as an occupying force ostracize or treat citizens with contempt for just drive by in their vehicles all lolling for little or no interaction. this hands off policing does nothing to foster relationships are trust both of them are critical elements to solve crimes to have a universal understanding the police rely on citizens for the reformation they need to do their jobs and to work with the committee will listen to residents about their desires for their neighborhoods which led to our community policing strategy.

but to focus on the trading officers received indicate vacation but those officers to engage respectfully creates confidence in both groups to produce a safe environment and just as important we need trust and understanding between the administration and leadership in the rank-and-file officers we found a partner in this effort to recall alleged the difficult balancing act that officers must perform to be respectful and taking precautions to protect themselves to have very deep respect and admiration for the risk these men and women take every day to put on their uniforms and demonstrates the absolute intolerance for abuse

corruption and illegal behavior from the officers. even in difficult times to keep the lines of communication open i believe has resulted in stronger and more resilient so with this new approach to trading to develop a new program for the officers went into the community that they served to ask residents about neighborhood issues to help to have the president's help them. the residents began to see what they created not just as the uniforms that appeared the concept is not

revolutionary in fact, it is done from decades ago somewhere along the way the police force has almost been militarized in the unfortunately grew. and wanted the best of both worlds with modern use the technology and metrics reinstated foot patrols and you stated to make decisions about staffing but the partners that every stage including the district attorney the prison or parole system even the community development corporations but still the

rising with the committee that reduces crime provide residents with education with the district attorney's office and with that cease-fire to bring citizens together to make mistakes to serve their time and now considered at risk young people that we intervene to put them on the right path. with these new programs in place we listen to the voices of our citizens so those young black men for the forum city's united to improve opportunities to be

my brother's keeper initiative that i am proud to support we already posted a workshop in philadelphia. to be assisted by the grant the partners of the police and social service industries in philadelphia with the devastating in hard to escape cycle. grosso the task force that i am a culture in birmingham alabama. and in what is the shared sense of destiny the idea that we are all in this together to move forward as a nation with the 21st

century policing under the leadership of broccoli, and the task force. thank you very much. >> next we will hear from the mayor of baltimore civic take you for the opportunity to speak today with the president's task force on 21st century policing to the cochairs the 84 years service and i want to thank my fellow panelists who are on the forefront of this issue nationwide. mr. davis think he very much. in with legitimacy to improve the city of baltimore i am eager to share successes as well as how the federal government

can be a partner in our initiatives moving forward but the need to build trust between communities of colorful you must remain vigilant their respectful and accountable all maintaining our focus to have safe communities for businesses and visitors we reduce violent crime but we still struggle for that breach between community and police. when for the first time in many years the homicide number was less than 200. i expect them to acknowledge that they were turning a corner over a generation.

so they were equally concerned about the tactics in baltimore is in a much better place to find the right balance between tough on crime in building bridges of trust had a 10% decline in homicide as well a drop of every major crime category including shootings and robberies and burglaries we have seen a decrease in massive force and lawsuits filed against the police department while at the same time more residents are reaching offer helpful tips and have demonstrated we can

learn from our past. that many of them in neighborhoods filled under siege due to the high numbers of arrests yet chosen to strike a better balance in the community police relationships are improving as a result. this past year we achieved a reduction of violent crime as well as the number of arrests and in 2015 my administration will continue to work aggressively to rid our streets of violence during peak periods of crime to work with the department of justice, programs to have accountability as well as a thoughtful but the camera

program that government can be a strong partner in our effort to build better relationships and the community they need to learn more than logistics' of policing but the broader significance of their role in society. my administration has focused on three core principles of impartiality impartiality, legitimacy and procedural justice. trading for the higher department to center on those pencil -- principles with situational trading exercises more opportunities to get hands-on experience with members of the community. that cannot be achieved without of what comes from community engagement but there is work that needs to

be done. both best practices to developing leaders. if there is any place where the federal government could produce a tangible impact it shed be in this area to help expand the internal affairs division to hold them accountable. one of the strategic goals is to have the internal affairs in the investigation and to ensure that they're all held accountable for their actions. that would expedite the process that should have better utilization of technology between local

communities and by the cameras are the next up to purchase by the cameras would be expensive but it is the data that they would record. but it is a necessity also is part of providing false accusation is a necessary tool the yield on the administration has indicated a commitment to. and then they become with the first major cities but let me conclude to reiterate for all the men and women that work so hard every day to create safer communities in baltimore.

but the vast majority agree that dignity and respect at the core of community policing. thank you again for the opportunity to share my experiences of baltimore and a look forward to your question. >> 84 the testimony. >> and the say i am delighted to be in the company of all three a few in the biggest cities and i say that sincerely. >> say that again the. [laughter] first of all, let me make a statement today?

i want to personally applaud you on that because that will models that type of relationship that they have to have as we confront the challenges facing this country every day so that is so wonderful gesture that demographically you have one of the most diverse communities in the country. and to share the demographics of your compartment but listening to those recommendations that it would be great to hear though you and your union

president because typically that is not something you hear from union presidents because generally that is not their mission but clearly you have a working relationship and how are you moving forward in terms of that to diversify? >> i appreciate that. is this is interesting and was elected mayor 2008 and when i first got elected our police department went from 800 officers because of the economy down to new 600 sacramento was already below where it should be meeting in theory to officers per thousand but it was at 1.5

then down at 1.3. public safety is the number one priority but obviously it is a top priority and for me looking at the crime data over the last six years but we give you this context crime rates have gone down by 20 percent homicide rates have gone down 39% since 2013 it was the lowest rate in those years had that happen with less resources and officers? because i made a priority to work with the chief and the u.n. to say we are all in this together. there are three of us have a critical role to play.

over in six years period we have been depositing good will and trust and investment working together so that when a situation like ferguson happens we already have a history of working well together. we are supposed to be frank here today? you didn't want us to be politically correct on everything. i am just getting permission i talked to having community meetings after ferguson. november 24 as we just so happened to have the fourth reading on the same day that the ferguson verdict comes down we're in a community meeting we stop and we all watched the verdict to gather 250 people there.

all in the real with law-enforcement the verdict comes down 1/2 to make a comment. now it is the moment of truth what you say what you want to say you don't have time to have your handlers scripted. i just say what was on my heart that number one the father of michael brown wants all of us to protest in a peaceful manner in there is something about the verdict that did not feel right that doesn't mean they did not do their job or the process was not followed the something just did not feel right everybody was called and we did it the right way.

when i get home iphone is blowing up. is this guy right here you can say that. you can do this and i said what did i say? what happened is they live streamed by comments in because they said i did not fully agree the local police officers took that as the slap in the face and was not supporting them. so we have this conversation so we meet the next morning to have an honest conversation and here is what i learned. plan make the comedy have to be extremely mindful of the men and women in uniform regardless of what i say and they have to let me be mayor and be honest in my remarks as well and together if you

can find a way to say what you want to do and question and challenge the process with though every police force around the country because for six years it was good so that is why we are here today. but because we made a commitment sacramento times magazine 75 percent white with the police department. blacks in the city is 15% police department 4%. latino.

police department and present latino 18% police department h% that is a reality. the union and the chief we are committed to lay out a plan and a strategy that gets at the numbers and read the to find and how we measure it was the target is strategies are so the community can be reflected in our police department. because it had nearly 70 percent of african-americans battle whole lot different from sacramento this is us be honest? we will achieve the numbers going forward lockstep. >> let me gsa sincerely as

well that sacramento's should be very proud to have u.s. there we are and what you model here as well. >> i just want to add my voice to safety for your time and with your testimony i just have to specific questions not to put anybody on the spotlight interested in how you would define the preferred to citizen review board we have heard every panelist talk about community engagement with a very different model and what is the maximum authority the civilian review board should have? your perspective is critical because you stand at the intersection but then to talk about independent

investigations because typically you don't have jurisdiction over prosecution so in in your opinion what is the model for who should have the investigative authority for the excessive use of force? >> guest: dash internal affairs within your department? what is your thinking held the independence investigation should be struck and who should have the authority? >> sure. i was elected city council 1991 and took off his 1982 as the former district

attorney and i guess in september of '92 i put forward the idea to have civilian oversight.

>> every city budget having made that, everyone wants more money and no one thinks that they have enough resources. but for this kind of work, i do believe in civilian oversight and i believe bennett. but it ultimately has to start with the mayor and the police commissioner in terms of discipline. >> i will take a stab at a second issue. independent investigation. we have taken multiple approaches and i think it is difficult as we talked earlier. it is difficult to have a one-size-fits-all type of solution. because there are -- there can be high-profile incidents whether it is in in custody

death or an officer involved shooting it's not controversial in the nature of the case. so the goal for me is to make sure when there is an issue of trust at the core, that we let it run the normal course, that the city's prosecutor does their investigation and we have our internal investigation. what i have done throughout my time is brought the normal course of business there is still a lack of confidence in the community and people are not shy about making that known if there is still a lack of trust. on multiple occasions we have pulled together an independent panel. criminal justice experts and

others to take a look at that and to do the investigation, to review all of the materials and the data that is out there and make an independent assessment. with that being said, does that change the minds of everyone that had a problem with this two of course not, but when you put together the independent panel and makes her every time we have done it that there is no one on here that works for me and i am not looking for anything but a true assessment. i'm not asking to validate what the police investigation found to support a what they decided it is an independent review. i can say because of that willingness to take that approach helps to build relationships of trust and i bet

when people in authority refused to allow this, we need to take a look to investigate and review an incident, that is when the red flags go up in the community. >> i will take a stab and say that we have a little variation of what everyone obsessed that. the ultimate goal is to make sure that there is public confidence when investigations take place, it is thorough and independent. and this is an opportunity to make something better than it was. if law enforcement can again unders and that this isn't an indictment or a lack of support but if we want trust and legitimacy and if the public is not feeling that when you look at this, procedural justice that doesn't feel right we have to

take a honest any honest look at it. and i think that is what we are getting at. so starting off with one of our fellow mayors in akron ohio. he has been talking about this issue for as long as i have been there for eight years. six years, but he has been there for 20 years. >> he has been there for a long time. [laughter] >> i didn't understand the depth of what he was getting at until this situation happened. we called it an emergency call and they said that is exactly what we were talking about. so we will present this to you. >> thank you. [laughter]

>> so the task force is going to present on this issue there. and what i could say to you is that we are honestly in sacramento trying to look at what the best practices are. and i know that something needs to change. there is an awareness on our part in a national movement toward looking at an independent investigation and the appointment of a special prosecutor. especially when there is the death of an unarmed civilian. i want to be clear that our police department needs to have a very strong relationship with those who prosecute. so we are not saying that that should the a lesson or a preamp. so maybe 90% state the exact same because they need a strong relationship.

but in the event when there are issues like this like this give us an opportunity to do things differently in a way that a responsible and productive individual helps with in a real way. in birmingham the mayor they are, because of the history with the police department, if you guys want to talk about that, it is a reminder for all of us. anytime you lease officer shoots a civilian it automatically injects this so that that gets out of the hands of local jurisdiction and they run this state level and beyond. that is similar to what the mayor is talking about in akron area toy can tell you honestly what the right answer is. but i do think that this is an opportunity for us not to waste

this tragedy here but to seize the moment to figure out how to improve the process and it's partly what the mayors will be presenting to the commissioner. >> thank you very much. >> achy so much for your testimony we are talking about this local trust at the local level. i think it's true that you are over performers. i'm a social scientist and if there is a normal distribution of cities i'm guessing you guys would not call yourselves median cities. but if you don't call yourselves medium cities, my question is to

take on how the federal government can be a part of this. and specifically what the federal government can do and not just those at the end of the distribution. but i'm wondering how you think about allen saint and what you need to do as leaders of her own cities and also trying to achieve moral uniformity in order to be able to have this going. >> we all want to say more

federal resources. the we said that we would receive the best. >> so in order to get that standardization and to address cities that find themselves in the diversity just isn't there i think it is important to take the lead in hosting conversations and there is a role of federal government to help to educate city and police chiefs on what happens. the notion of diversity can fall on deaf ears but they don't

understand the value and you don't want communities to understand the value of bridge building because you saw what happens, you could not make it up afterwards. and i think the more that we do and it's not just this with the resources and training and education to cities across the country to say that we want you to have a diverse department. in law enforcement, yes, it is right thing to do. but these are the operational benefits. and unfortunately i think that it would be fair to say that unless people see in operational benefit, if they will not see diversity for diversity sake, it is that the operational benefit.

it is part of the importance of building the bonds of trust. so as president johnson talked about not wasting this lesson from this tragedy that should be a major lesson. that we cannot deal with diverse communities without diverse police force and you have to do things all across the board, whether it is for recruitment or how you promote within the department and also we need to include community members on the hiring panel and the promotional panel. so that way community leaders and those on the street, that their voices are heard especially when we make decisions with who will be in leadership. that extends the tone for the

department rapid city. so i think that the resource of education would be critical at this with the hippies of cities and some of it can be peer-to-peer, but i think that the strength in that the legacy of the situation was helpful in getting that message out there. >> i would say that we did pick up somewhere in the mix there at was actually a compliment for the three of us. i thought about what you said many times. >> i recorded it. >> it was in their and it was inside. we talked about our relationship with our federal partners and we want to enhance our relationship so yes, we do want more

resources and it's also a close partnership. i was here and i'm going to make the connection here. and america suffered the most incredible tragedy on 9/11. the country was in shock and america responded very quickly. and within a couple of days there was a new office of homeland security that became the department of homeland security and created that. we also created the transportation security administration with about 60,000 people with an 8 billion-dollar budget because we wanted to be safe. in my view there has been no comparable response and the tragedy of 9/11 is that 2997 people were killed that day in three different locations. but every year in the united

states of america somewhere between 10 and 14,000 people are killed as a result of violence. and we have not had a comparable -- and i'm taking some of his language, we do not have the comparable response to the issue of violence in the united states of america. and we have a violence problem in the united states of america and we have acknowledged that. until you with knowledge that that money was not just sitting around somewhere. but it was found because america said we want to be safe in the air and i would like to be safe on the ground every day in my neighborhood. and so i think that that kind of approach, the budget was down to the penny no matter how minute people you have have been

severely reduced and a lot of what we see on the ground we have great partners back home, we have the fbi, the secret service, homeland security the dea, probation and parole they seem to have disappeared and all the sudden we have the proper focus of the united states of america given the sanity and the other places in the world, we cannot take our eye off the ball of terrorists. but we have homegrown neighborhoods and those that terrorize their children every day, we terrorize her old folks and senior citizens when they are trying to go about their business and terrorize folks that feel like they can't go

outside. and so where is their security administration for what it is they are trying to do with their lives? we either want to be safe at home and abroad. so we are willing partners in this work. the boston bombing situation i don't know what those two guys were all about. but with all of the technology and all of the resources it was a camera that gave us the best image of those two individuals subsequently resulting in the death of one and the capture of another. and so we fight crime every day. most days it will be philadelphia and one day it could be somebody from california or could be somebody from halfway around the world. until closer partnership and relationship among all of our federal partners, and we are fighting crime they are

fighting crime, each and every day. and look at how we help them in the surge of we had more opportunity with tools and resources and a lot of discussion about body count is tasers as well of getting somebody to maybe pay attention behave themselves consistent training across all of the various departments and agencies across the united states of america. the federal government would have probably have had to take on the issue of renters and one thing in ferguson, it's a different thing in staten island and probably something else in philadelphia or baltimore depending on what the state wants to do and what their rules and regulations are because people don't understand it, they often take too long it gets confusing, it is a secretive process and then even after it's done you can't figure out what the world just happened in front of you. but as the mayor said, you know something did not feel right.

we are going to have two things among citizens and law enforcement. people have to have a better understanding of what is really going on out here to see an investment being made in their personal safety every day. >> i will say two things because i know time is of the essence. one is we believe very strongly that there has to be more bipartisanship and someone to really challenge at the federal level there have to be certain things that transcend politics and safety in the community is one of them. that would be the first thing. actually we believe strongly that we had an opportunity to share this with the administration and we have to have this continue to be a great message that is loud and clear in what we talk about resources being disseminated, a lot of times some go to this date and

the more that they can look at getting those resources directly to the city we are where the rubber meets the road and we want to be accountable to the resources and for the record i just want to say those things. >> thank you very much. next we have roberto speaking. >> thank you so much. it is real obvious to me why they all speak so highly including with commissioner ramsey. but i have a question on a local level. all of the jurisdictions, there is competition for available resources. and you have all brought up the issue of the need to fund law enforcement and how do you get the community and politicians to

agree when there is such high competing resources and at the same time crime threat the country has been falling throughout the past decade. what arguments do you use to get that across? >> i think you start off having a strong form of government. >> yes. >> that is always helpful. >> kind of like an inside joke. >> almost. but for me, i cannot speak for the other two we have the budget and the priority and with respect to how the resources are allocated, the council cannot be appropriate the funds that they can only cut it out of the budget and it's about making it clear up front when you communicate. when we talk about the fact that public safety is our top

priority, we are saying that when we are together, when we are back at home and everywhere if you upfront that this is your top priority, we make those programs and resources a top priority as well. so it's reflected in the budget and everybody understands up front where you are so there are competing competitions for resources with some programs but it least in baltimore because we are very clear and i have been clear of fun but there is public safety and reducing violence, that is off the table and we look forward allocating resources in other areas. >> you just have to make it clearer. they say repetition penetrates and i talk about public safety every day any audience, no matter who i'm talking to, that is what we are talking about.

and to the credit of city council, they are always competing against every department, everyone can make a case. and it is our job to make these decisions. so it's never been pleased versus the park system. we had a thousand 71 folks shot. we're not living in shame a lot in philadelphia. there's a big drop big production, people see the trend, but folks know that i'm going to invest and it's the worst of the recession. so i said when we come in and we were going to have more police officers. it didn't happen. we didn't lay off the police officers or the sanitation workers or the health care workers, it was just our thing.

but we had to delay classes, i had to cut the overtime budget and we had a 15% reduction in our first year in the midst of a recession. but everyone understood and the fundamental aspect of the local government, the citizens have to be safe. so everybody took a cut but we never compromised public safety and we still reduced crime with less police officers than we had in recent times. but you have to stay focused on that. it's not a trade-off it's a balancing act but i'm not trading public safety for anything. >> i would say again for as i look at it in a couple of ways. you know this and we appreciate you asking the question. the public safety when you think about resources and prioritizing public safety goes through every department in a city. so you can't just look at it as

the police officer fire department. it's what can every department in the city due to make sure that you have alignment and a perspective on how we can make our city safer. oftentimes that doesn't cost money. secondly when you think about the health and the vitality of the city public safety jobs, economic development, everything that we all want to happen in our community is hinged on how safe your city is. everyone has a self-interest in that whether they want to of knowledge that are not and i think that will we do once we do that, we create a shared vision of where we want to go and i gave the example that you asked me earlier that if we don't articulate the vision to eventually be dense and we don't get out there publicly, we will never work towards that vision. and it cost $1.5 million for 15

new officers. if we have a surplus and we don't have the vision out there, no dollars are going to get spent or lobbied someone else that others lobby on the shared vision that when the economy is doing well and we have a surplus, we are going to allocate $1.5 million towards 15 more police officers which get towards that vision. that's very important because we underestimate the public sometimes. if we lay this out the public is going to say that is exactly what we want. and we need a few more officers to make that happen until they can get it out there and not just in this role. you have to have more folks to be able to do that in the last thing i need to admonish is that we have to tell the success and the story, we have to measure what we have done and articulated so people know that there is a return on the investment. >> the last question will come

from connie. i encourage everyone to speak more about this. >> that needs no from the expert mayors. during assessment of how well we are communicating with the union leadership [inaudible] that they are talking this way and i am talking this way. do the unions understand what the communities are saying about the need for more understanding from police or do they see it as an attack on this. >> one of the things i talked about legitimacy it is work that has to be done and i often

talk to community leaders and i talked about this, building these relationships of trust between the community and the police, but we have to think about this like a marriage it happens, but if you wanted to be solid. [laughter] [inaudible] >> you're going to be in trouble. [laughter] >> i am suggesting that you can have a healthy relationship or unhealthy relationship. it is owing to be there. it's a matter of whether you choose to be healthy or not and for us to talk we have to hear each other and we have to be willing to put in the work. we have to -- the police have to

hear from communities what they feel and i talked about it before when we were able to do this for the first time in decades great i didn't think that i would be foisted upon their shoulders, but i thought i would get a better reception. but i would go into communities and they were mad. they were like, my son is not a criminal. and when i sent him to school, he is getting straight grade a's. so he has to be on guard, i don't want them to feel that he has to be on guard when i send them to the store. >> i don't know if enough community is entertaining those conversations because you have to put into place opportunities for people to hear those

conversations and make it important and you have to foster that honest communication and communities need to hear from police. they have families at home if they want to be able to go home as well. so when they feel that there is no help in the community is -- you know they feel that the community is apathetic and resistant to them the community needs to hear because we cannot, we are going to be in this relationship and there's nothing that the police can do on their own. we are married, it's just a matter of whether we agree or commit to having a healthy relationship. >> i know that you clearly recognize the complexity of the question and it would be impossible for us to

characterize, i don't know how many officers are okay with this, we have 6400 police officers who will have 6400 different views and ideas on any given day. and i imagine in my testimony the gentleman i know that i talked to on a regular basis on our best day it will be impossible to be in the hearts and souls and minds of every one of those officers and union leaders, i respect them, but i think that now they are leaders because they were elected. just like us. so they have a constituency. that is a million and a half people. oftentimes they do or they have to they feel that they have to reflect some of the things that are on their members mind or you

won't be the union leader. and then there is the local chapter and thousands of individuals across the country and they'll get to talking. so there's a lot of conversation out there. the officer on the street wants to do his or her job and engage with the good people of the neighborhood check themselves, i have lost seven police officers killed in the line of duty and a number of them were shot to death. and if you want to talk about a bad day at work i'm not sure but the absolute worst moment an elected official when a police officer has been shot,

one firefighter dies and the worker dies in an explosion. when someone cracks his head and dies. be in that has hospital at hospital at that time and see that thing. talk to them about what is going on after that moment. so they want to go home as well. and so we have to bridge this divide. we can't legislate it. we can train and top we can provide leadership on both sides the mayor the other things as well, when someone is staring you down 10 feet away with a gun in their hands, we are not sure what they are going to do, you're going to do what you're trained to do. so many people want good police officers. but i don't think that totality of what that is about as part of

this. most don't want bad police officers on the force either and that really does need to take place. as i think the message is getting out there ferguson staten island, the hundreds of others out there, people are talking about these issues and we need to have more heartfelt conversation. >> i think that officers by and large feel like they're being attacked. i do feel like the community by and large doesn't feel like it's being heard to the degree that it would like to be. and i think that it's upon all of us to really do a better job and i think that i have my union president in the front row modeling what could happen in

the special circumstances may be circumstantial to some other city, but if we can create a framework and then share it and how do you make sure that some other cities are benefiting as well, we have to share best actresses and you guys are creating an awareness and people don't like to talk about economic asperity's and rates because those are real issues and if we can't talk about him, them, our community is going to suffer because of it. there's words like justice and fairness and respect the goes both ways. so i need to lead with leading men and women in uniform know how much i appreciate what they do. once i say that then they will hear me when i start to say some things that we can do to different way. if i sit down with dustin and he said that we are doing everything right, i have a problem with that.

and if he said to me that we are a good unit but we want to be better we are congressman conyers, leader conyers. i just want to go back one moment so that we can be very clear about this. because i think we need to understand the difference between the rhetoric of today and the rhetoric of one year

ago. this is one year ago. one of the greatest founding principles of our country was that children would not be punished for the mistakes of their parents. i didn't write this. no one on our side of the aisle wrote this. i wish i would have. i'm sure we would have all been proud to have been co-authors or co-sponsors of that statement. what happened? what happened? one year later you're saying to those -- what happened to that principle? you just gave it up? doesn't mean anything to you anymore? don't care about children? you think children should be held responsible for the actions of their parents because that is precisely what you are saying today. because 600,000 young people came forward and did exactly this. then wait a minute. it gets better because you said and we were so happy because we thought we were moving forward, because we thought the republican party was finally turning a page, you said, it is

time to provide an opportunity for legal residents and citizenship for those who are brought to this country as children. what happened? at this want one of you to deny that this isn't one of the principles you took into your conference last year. it is what you took. what happened one year later? well you know here's what happened, i think. you guys always say the same thing. oh, it's that king from iowa, he tricks us at the last second. he brings in one of these poisonest things and there's nothing we can do about it. what excuse do you have today when you did it with all the premeditation and thoughtfulness and viciousness to bring this amendment forward with the support of your complete caucus? this is not a surprise. you sought this out. where are you going to move the country forward to? let me tell you about one number. yeah, there's 600,000, there's 270 the electoral college. the number it takes to elect the

president of the united states. you're out of reach there. the chair: the chair would ask they direct your remarks to the chair. the gentlelady from tennessee is recognized. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam chairman. how much time is remaining on each side? the chair: two minutes for the gentlelady and their time has expired. mrs. blackburn: their time has expired. thank you madam chairman. let's talk about a couple of these things. the democrats like to say, madam chairman, that this is radical. let me ask you a question. let me ask my colleagues a question. is it radical to support the rule of law? is it radical to fight for american workers who are going to lose their jobs to illegal aliens? is it radical to prioritize to prioritize legal immigrants that are coming to this country? is it radical to try to protect children that are in this

program via the office of refugee resettlement? democrats are over there saying that republicans are playing politics with national security. let me ask you another question. why were they saying nothing this summer when the southern border was being overrun and all sorts of trafficking, human trafficking sex trafficking, weapons trafficking, drug trafficking. here are the facts. daca became effective august 15 2012. in fiscal year 2014, the office of refugee released 53,518 unaccompanied children here in the u.s. it is a magnet. 75% of all americans reject the obama executive amnesty. 80% of the americans don't want foreign workers taking jobs from americans. those are the facts, madam

chairman. and to my colleagues, that is why we are here. we have two choices. we are either a nation of laws or we are lawless. president obama is turning every state into a border state, every town into a border town. and unfortunately the lawless amnesty has taken democrats from the party of yes we can to acting like the party of because

>> andorder. statement from secretary. >> thank you mr. speaker. with permission i would like to make a statement about the terrorist attacks in paris at the threats we face in terrorism and the united kingdom. it will take some time for us to learn the full details of the attacks last week but the basic facts are now clear. 17 innocent people were murdered in cold blood and a number of others were injured. the terrorists who attacked the jewish supermarket claimed his actions were carried out in the name of isil.

report suggests the brothers who attacked the office of charlie hebdo were associated with al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula in yemen. the same al-qaeda affiliate that is been in contact with the men who murdered rigby in 2013. as the appalling events in paris run a story unfolding of this house with of this house with the bank the government's counterterrorism and security built at the threat level in the united kingdom. which is set by the independent joint terrorism analysis center and remains at severe. this means a terrorist attack in our country is highly likely and could occur without warning. three serious terrorist plots been disrupted in recent months alone. nearly 600 people from this country have traveled to syria and iraq to fight.

around half of them have returned. there are thousands of people from across europe who have done the same. as i said during the passage of the counterterrorism bill and on many repeated occasions, the government will do everything it can to keep the public safe. as soon as the attacks in france took place, the government increased security at the uk border. office from a tour de force, the police and other organizations intensify checks on passengers, vehicles and goods entering the uk. we offer the french government all assistance in this area, including the focal operation of our police and security and intelligence agencies. on sunday before i attended the piece rally in paris i held talks with my counter talks in europe, the united states and canada to discuss what action we can take together. it was from support from all the countries present for new action to share intelligence, track the movement of terrorists, defeat

the ideology that lies behind the threat. it is important between -- we now deliver on those talks and my officials, the security minister and i will keep up the pace, in particular when it comes to passenger name record with other european member states. on monday, the prime minister, defence secretary and i held a security meeting with senior official to reduce the terrorist attacks and the risks to the uk of a similar attack. of course, we have long had detailed plans for duty with these kinds of attacks. the house will recall the attacks in mumbai in 2008 we terrorist armed with assault weapons and explosives took the lives of more than 150 people. since 2010 and learning the lessons of that attack, we have improved our capability and the speed of a military response. we have enhanced protected securities where possible through a range of other measures. we have improved joint working between emergency services to give specifically with the gun

attacks. specialist joined police and fire teams are now in place in key teams across england with equivalents in scotland and wales. they trained and equipped they are trained and equipped to manage casualties in the event of this kind of an attack. the police and other agencies carry out exercises to test the response to a terrorist attack, and these exercises include scenarios that are similar to events in paris. we will ensure future exercises reflect specific elements of the pairs attack so we can learn from them and be ready for them should ever occur in the united kingdom. in addition i should tell the house that the police can call on appropriate military systems when required across the country. the attacks in paris were enabled by the availability of assault weapons. although there's obviously a number of illegal weapons in the uk, we have some of the toughest gun laws in the world and as a

result, only make up a small proportion of those crimes. the types of firearms used in the attacks in paris are not unknown in the uk but they are extremely uncommon. however as the prime minister has said can we must step up our efforts with other countries to crack down on the illegal smuggling of weapons across borders. in particular the member states of the european union need to work together to put beyond use the vast number of weapons in the countries of the former yugoslavia and disrupt the supply of weapons from other parts of the world especially north africa. mr. speaker, the measures were taken following events in pairs or in addition to the substantial work the government has undertaken and continues to undertake to counter the threat from terrorism. last summer parliament approved emergency legislation to prevent a sudden and rapid loss of access to communications data and the ability to intercept communications where it is necessary and appropriate to do

so. and parliament is of course scrutinizing the proposal in the counterterrorism and security built as we speak. this important legislation will strengthen our powers to disrupt the ability of people to travel abroad to fight and control their ability to return here. it will also in the house -- answer the to do with those in the uk who pose a risk to a particular will announce the relocation of people subject to investigation measures to other parts of the country. in addition the prime minister has announced 130 million pounds over the next two years for the agency's police and others in addition to the more than half a billion pounds spent on counter terrorism casing of the year. and, of course, this government has done more to confront the ideology that lies behind the threats we face. i have excluded more hate speech of any home secretary before me. we deported -- we've reform to prevent