There is "absolutely" systemic racism in law enforcement, but it doesn't stop there, according to Democratic Party presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.
"It's across the board. It's in housing, it's in education, and it's in everything we do. It's real. It's genuine. It's serious. And it is — it is able to be dealt with," Biden told "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell in CBS News' primetime special "Justice for All."
He stressed that not all law enforcement officers are racist, telling O'Donnell, "My lord, there are some really good, good cops out there. But the way in which it works right now is we've seen too many examples of it."
Biden, who spoke through a video to mourners at the funeral for George Floyd on Tuesday, also commented to CBS that he's laid out a "whole plan" on police reform, after saying earlier this week that he does not agree with defunding departments.
"Number one, you have to start off by insisting that the police departments meet a national standard of what constitutes policing that is appropriate, and that's one of the things we gotta set out, that national standard," said Biden. "All police departments are gonna have to adopt it. We'll put together a commission to do that."
House Democrats introduced a police reform bill on Monday, two weeks after Floyd's death under the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis sparked protests worldwide against police brutality. Biden told CBS he agrees with many of the bill's proposals, including a national police misconduct registry, banning police chokeholds, and making lynching a federal hate crime.
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Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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