Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice is suggesting the nation should focus more on law enforcement reform rather than defunding the police altogether.
On Tuesday, CBS News’ Jericka Duncan asked Rice if she supports the call to defund police.
“No. That’s not terminology I would use. But what I would say is this, we have a long history of inequality, of oppression, that endures in this country and we need the police to be a part of the solution,” Rice said.
She added, “In some instances they are and other communities they’re not. There’s no one size fits all approach. So, I’m for re-imagining the role of the police.”
Check out her comments below:
Do you support the call to defund police? — @JerickaDuncan
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 4, 2020
"No. That's not terminology I would use… There's no one size fits all approach. I'm for re-imagining the role of the police." — @AmbassadorRice pic.twitter.com/1oKQzClXSD
Rice recommended removing police from areas including social work and reallocating resources to invest more in communities.
She argued it is not feasible to simply take all funding away from police.
“You can’t just take money away uniformly and put it somewhere else or take it away altogether. I think we need to look at this community by community and be quite thoughtful about it,” Rice said.
The call to defund the police emerged over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
The New York City Council slashed the $1 billion NYPD budget after passing an $88 billion budget after midnight on July 1, as IJR previously reported.
When asked if it is the right time to cut funding from the police department, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) defended the decision noting the importance of pouring funding into communities instead of policing.
Rice’s comments come as federal agents are being deployed to cities across the nation in efforts to fight violent crime.
The Trump administration will be sending additional federal forces to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee, the Department of Justice announced on July 29, as IJR previously reported.