President Biden said Thursday that the Justice Department’s (DOJ) damning report on the investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) was “long overdue.”
The report, released Wednesday, found that police and local government had engaged in a pattern of discriminatory behavior toward black citizens.
“Police officers need help. There are a few bad cops, by the way. What we did, my Justice Department just did in Louisville, Kentucky, was long overdue — to put these suckers in jail,” Biden said in a remark in Philadelphia.
“By the way, how many cops do you know who are bad cops? I don’t know many, no joke,” he added.
Biden’s comments on the Louisville police investigation came as he announced funding for policing in his budget, which he revealed Thursday. The budget includes funding for 100,000 more police officers across the country and would provide $19.4 billion over 10 years for crime prevention strategies.
The budget would also allocate $5 billion over 10 years for community violence interventions, including hiring more school nurses, counselors, psychological support and training new officers.
Biden has recently attempted to deal with the politically-charged issue of crime, which took the spotlight last week when he said he would not veto legislation that Republicans had pushed to reverse portions of a District of Columbia crime bill would. He has consistently tried to push back the narrative that he is soft on crime or affiliated with the left-wing Defund the Police movement.
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The DOJ opened the Louisville investigation in April 2021 following the death of Breonna Taylor, an African American woman who was killed by police in 2020 after a warrant was executed at her home.
The report found that the police department and local government have routinely used excessive force, conducted searches without valid search warrants, used warrants, discriminated against black people in law enforcement activities, and taken other actions that violate the Constitution and federal law.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday the behavior of the police was “unacceptable” and “heartbreaking”.
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