President Barack Obama outlined several ideas that he’s been discussing with his administration to address gun violence in the wake of the Trayvon Martin case on Friday in an impromptu statement at the White House.
Obama noted that authorities at all levels of government could work together to professionalize the way law enforcement officials approach their duties.
“I think it would be productive for the justice department, governors, mayors, to work with law enforcement about training at the state and local levels in order to reduce the kind of mistrust in the system that sometimes currently exists,” Obama said, citing legislation he introduced in Illinois that trained police departments on how to think about potential racial bias.
“Along the same lines I think it would be useful for us to examine some state and local laws to see if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of altercations and confrontations and tragedies that we saw in the Florida case rather than diffuse potential altercations,” he added.
