Attorney General Loretta Lynch told House lawmakers Tuesday that the U.S. needs to hold serious discussions about how police interact with people in the wake of several police shootings of black men, the resulting protests and riots and efforts to target police, such as the shooting of five Dallas police officers last week.
“You have truly outlined the issue of the day facing our nation … We have to have the difficult conversations about race and policing in this country,” Lynch told Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., when asked about these police shootings at a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
Lynch said she has spent the past year touring the country meeting with state and local law enforcement agencies to discuss police and community relations.
“They key is communication,” she said. “We can in fact work on this difficult problem.”
Lynch said that in addition to listening to communities around the country, she and the Department of Justice will “continue to provide a great deal of support to law enforcement,” such as bulletproof vests, de-escalation training and body cameras.
