Hillary Clinton Speaks, Addresses Recent Police-Involved Shootings, At AME Conference
by Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addressed the racially charged violence of the last few days in a speech Friday night, to the African Methodist Episcopal General Conference at Philadelphia's Convention Center.
Secretary Clinton carefully balanced distress at the shooting of police in Dallas with outrage over the shootings by police in Baton Rouge and Minnesota.
"I know that just by saying all these things together I may upset some people," she said.
But Clinton said it's true both that criminal justice reform is needed and that police need support. She said she would take two steps to address both:
One, national guidelines on the use of force, and two, $1 billion in her first budget for community relations training in police departments around the country.
"Let's learn from those police departments like Dallas that have been making progress, apply their lessons nationwide," said Clinton.
The AME conference, always in an election year, is a time-honored stop for presidential candidates, but few have had as difficult a task as Clinton: speaking to members and clergy of the nation's oldest African-American church in the wake of shootings by and of police.
Her plan of guidelines and training would be only a partial answer, she said, calling for change on a personal level.
"White Americans need to do a better job of listening when African-Americans talk," said Clinton.
As she spoke, Black Lives Matter protesters marched nearby.
