#Joe Biden tells donors he supports more funding for police

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden told donors Wednesday that he does not want to defund the police, instead advocating for more money despite it going against the wishes of racial justice protesters.

Speaking to donors at a virtual fundraiser hosted by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former vice president made the remarks after being asked about his view of how to approach criminal justice reform.

“I don’t want to defund police,” Biden told his supporters, “I want to get police more money in order to deal with the things they badly need from making sure they have access to community policing, that they have also in the department’s social workers, psychologists, people who in fact can handle those god awful problems that a cop has to have four degrees to handle.”

The 2020 presidential hopeful went into further detail about specific reforms he would like to see enacted.

“Reform means … banning chokeholds, stopping transferring military weapons of war to the police departments, creating a model use of force standard and holding all police to the high standard,” he said.

Biden continued by saying he wanted to make sure “prosecutors who work with the police aren’t the same ones handling police misconduct cases. Instead, he argued, “prosecutors from different jurisdictions” should handle those cases.

He then pledged, as he has previously, to create a national police oversight commission within his first 100 days.

The stance is similar to that of his former 2020 rival and staunch progressive, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who also opposes defunding the police. However, Biden has faced considerable pressure from progressive groups to change his position.

Back in June, Biden appeared to cave somewhat to the demands of protesters, as he argued in a CBS News interview that federal aid to police based should be tied to their ability to “meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness.”

The Democratic candidate repeated his campaign position that he is opposed to defunding the police — a rallying cry of nationwide protesters demanding justice for the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.

“I support conditioning federal aid to police, based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness. And, in fact, are able to demonstrate they can protect the community and everybody in the community,” he said.

In an interview the same month with NowThis News, Biden went further, arguing that money “absolutely” be redirected from police departments as calls for defunding law enforcement grew.

While discussing the issue of defunding the police, the presidential hopeful said that police forces do not need surplus military equipment before being asked if he agreed that some police funding could be redirected.

“Yes, absolutely,” he said in response.

Discussing police reform further, he continued that, “One of the things that we also need to be doing is fundamentally changing way we deal with our prison system.

“It should be a rehabilitation system, not a punishment system. We’re going to make sure you’re qualified for every single right you had before you went to prison if you served your time.”

Despite his nod to basing police funding on decency and redirection of funds, more than 50 left-leaning organizations signed a letter to the former vice president criticizing his policing proposals, cautioning that he risked losing black support ahead of the November election if he did not alter his platform.

The letter, first reported in mid June, called on Biden to embrace a more progressive agenda in an effort to undo what they describe as damage caused by his Senate history.

“As the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, you have a moral responsibility in this moment. Making amends for the harm you’ve caused is an important first step, but it is no longer enough,” the letter read.