Trump says Obama did not make any move on police reform. In reality, he scrapped them. [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Before signing his executive order on police reform on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden did not make any policy regarding the issue, “because they had no idea how to do it.”
• However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Obama did several policies during his time such as the banning of military selling of equipment to the police and the public scrutiny on the police over misconduct issues.
• In fact, Trump had reversed Obama’s policies as he appointed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2017, who was against it.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, upon signing his executive order on police reform, that former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden did not make any effort to execute such mandate.

“President Obama and Vice President Biden never even tried to fix this during their eight-year period. The reason they didn’t try is they had no idea how to do it,” Trump said.

In reality, though, the current administration scrapped all the reforms attempted by the previous administration. Trump disregarded the efforts of his predecessor; despite Obama, the first US black president, taking action to reform the police department and increased accountability in law enforcement

“He said President Obama did nothing on police reform, but the fact is they made a lot of progress and President Trump rolled it back,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said as response to Trump’s statement on Tuesday.

In August 2017, Trump flipped over an Obama policy that prohibits the military from selling surplus equipment to the police. Obama then spearheaded the order as a response to criticisms over the use of armored vehicles, tear gas and assault rifles to curb protesters after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man from Ferguson, Missouri.

Moreover, in September 2017, the US Justice Department said that it would suspend the practice of police scrutiny and issuance of public reports on police flaws which were observed during the Obama administration. Last 2015, the Justice Department ruled that the Ferguson Police Department was guilty of racist behavior and unconstitutional, unlawful policing which stemmed mass protests over Brown’s brutal death.

During the time, those policies constituted a change in the department such as having consent decrees between the local police and the Justice Department.  

Then in 2017, Trump appointed then-former Attorney General Jeff Sessions who said that he opposed consent decrees such as the Ferguson case as it decreases the morale of the police. During his tenure, Sessions requested a review of more than 12 consent decrees of the Justice Department. 

Source: AOL.com