President Barack Obama on Saturday took a moment to praise the work done by law enforcement while at the same time calling for criminal justice reform.
Obama stressed that he believes there is no contradiction between us caring about officers and making sure that laws are being applied fairly and called the criminal justice system a "profound barrier to opportunity in too many communities," according to The Hill.
"Our law enforcement officers do outstanding work in an incredibly difficult and dangerous job," he said during the Congressional Black Caucus awards dinner in Washington. "They put their lives on the line for our safety. We appreciate them and we love them."
Obama said that while his administration wants to make sure police officers are protected, they will be able to do a better job if communities feel confident that they are being treated fairly.
"We need to make sure the laws are applied evenly," he said. "This is not a new problem. It’s just that in recent months, in recent years, suddenly folks have videos and body cameras, and social media, and so it's opened our eyes to these incidents."
Obama continued on, saying that avoiding the issue of police-involved shooting and excessive force incidents is not going to help that nation's law enforcement officers.
"That's not going to help build trust between them and the communities in which they serve," he said.
