Obama to meet with cops, community leaders Wednesday

It’s a continuation of the dialogue Obama has tried to encourage over the last few years, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. Obama hopes to advance the conversation and find “specific solutions to repairing the bonds of trust that have frayed in so many communities between law enforcement officials and the citizens that they have sworn to serve and protect,” he said.

Attendees will include “activists, academics, civil rights leaders and local political leaders” from across the country, Earnest said.

Obama assembled a 21st century policing task force at the start of his second term to draft and issue best practices for local police departments to follow. The administration released its report in May, 2015.

Earnest said the effort to implement those best practices “must be re-energized,” and said local leaders and law enforcement must “make it a genuine priority” to follow those best practices.

“The task force recommendations provide meaningful solutions to help law enforcement agencies and communities strengthen trust and collaboration, while ushering the nation into the next phase of community-focused policing,” the Community-Oriented Policing Services page of the Justice Department’s website said.

Earnest said Dallas is actually one of the cities that has integrated many of the best practices and, as a result, has seen a decline in violent crime and complaints against police.

Obama is attending a meeting at the White House Monday with law enforcement representatives that Vice President Joe Biden scheduled before Thursday’s attack on police in Dallas. Obama originally was slated to spend Monday in Seville, Spain but cut that trip short to address the situation in Dallas.

Obama will speak at a memorial service for those fallen officers in Dallas on Tuesday. President George W. Bush will also speak while Biden and his wife will join the Obamas and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on the trip.