Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign has come out against a movement to defund police departments across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s campaign released a statement Monday, saying that Biden supports reform, but not a dismantling of American police departments. (RELATED: Potential Biden VP Pick Val Demings Calls Proposal To Defund Police ‘Very Thoughtful’)
“Vice President Biden does not believe that police should be defunded,” the campaign’s rapid response director Andrew Bates said in a statement that Jennifer Epstein shared to Twitter on Monday. “He hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change, and is driven to ensure that justice is done and that we put a stop to this terrible pain.”
“Biden does not believe that police should be defunded. He hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change, and is driven to ensure that justice is done and that we put a stop to this terrible pain. Biden supports the urgent need for reform…” pic.twitter.com/k0IConBSj3
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) June 8, 2020
Bates added that the former vice president supports reforms that would create more diversity in police departments, as well as additional funding for body cameras. (RELATED: Joe Biden: One Thing ‘Everybody Has In Common In Jail’ Is They ‘Can’t Read’)
“This is at the core of Joe Biden’s plan to bring transformative change to our criminal justice system,” Bates added.
The movement to defund police departments across the country has picked up steam after four former Minnesota police officers were charged in connection to Floyd’s death.
A “veto-proof majority” of the Minneapolis City Council pledged to “dismantle” the city’s police department Sunday, while activist organizations such as Black Lives Matter and a number of celebrities have also called for police departments to be defunded.