National Community Policing Week, 2016

Proclamation 9513 of September 30, 2016

National Community Policing Week, 2016

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Police officers are essential members of our
communities--maintaining our way of life depends on
their dedicated efforts to keep us safe. These officers
hold significant civic and law enforcement
responsibilities and put their lives at risk to protect
us each day, at times facing some of the most adverse
circumstances imaginable. The overwhelming majority of
police officers are fair, dedicated, and honest public
servants who strive daily to cultivate and sustain
positive relationships with the communities they serve
and protect. As recent tragedies have illustrated,
however, it is clear that there are still too many
places in America where these relationships are
strained and where officers and community members have
struggled to build and maintain trust.

During National Community Policing Week, we reaffirm
our commitment to supporting and advancing the practice
of community policing and to fortifying the bonds
between police officers and communities. Community
policing recognizes that law enforcement cannot solve
public safety problems alone and encourages interactive
partnerships with relevant stakeholders--including
community groups, nonprofits, faith-based
organizations, and businesses. This active
collaboration can improve public trust and fortify
relationships, not only advancing public safety, but
also deepening social connectivity and creating lasting
solutions to challenging problems we face every day.

The underlying tensions that sometimes exist between
law enforcement officers and communities span decades
and reflect a breadth of social and cultural
challenges, including racial and socioeconomic
disparities. Through meaningful efforts to strengthen
community policing, we can meet these challenges,
improve these vital relationships, and make real and
lasting progress. Together, we can take constructive
steps to support our women and men in uniform while
instilling confidence in the fairness of the justice
system for everybody and ensuring that law enforcement
officers discharge their duties impartially.

A critical part of enhancing trust is making certain
that when an incident occurs, the public is confident
that an investigation is fair and effective--both for
the officer and for the families of those who have been
affected. We must also work with law enforcement on
training, hiring, and recruiting techniques and provide
support and proper resources as they deal with the
challenges of the job. In 2015, I announced a Task
Force on 21st Century Policing to bring together
community leaders and law enforcement to provide
recommendations to help us build the kind of trust we
need. In the time since the Task Force issued a report
of their findings, we have seen progress with respect
to data gathering, training, transparency, and
community outreach--and communities across America are
working to implement these recommendations. We must
also recognize that we cannot keep expecting police to
solve the issues we fail to address as a society,
including poverty, substandard schools, inadequate job
opportunities, and lack of care for mental illnesses or
substance use disorders; doing so contributes to unrest
in communities and exacerbates tensions.

My Administration has worked to bridge divides and
bolster community policing efforts across our country.
In 2014, the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched the
National Initiative for Building Community Trust and
Justice to invest in training, evidence-based
strategies, and research to help reduce implicit bias
and enhance procedural justice and reconciliation. The
DOJ has provided additional resources to the Office of
Community Oriented Policing Services for hiring police
officers across America and advancing 21st-century
policing efforts. We are also continuing to provide
millions of dollars in grants to agencies that
demonstrate robust community policing initiatives. Last
year, the White House and the DOJ launched the Police
Data Initiative to encourage law enforcement,
technologists, and researchers to use data to increase
transparency and strengthen accountability between
community members and police. And this summer, we
launched the Data-Driven Justice Initiative to equip
law enforcement officers with the tools they need to
safely and effectively divert low-level offenders with
mental illnesses out of the criminal justice system.
The Federal Government must continue to partner with
State and local leaders, as well as the law enforcement
community, to expand best practices that increase trust
and public safety.

Every American has the power to make change in their
communities. By working together to improve law
enforcement practices and ensure we give both police
officers and community members the respect they
deserve, we can fulfill this important endeavor. This
week, let us rededicate ourselves to building a future
in which police officers are honored for their
sacrifices and supported by their communities and in
which members of those communities can truly feel they
are being served fairly and justly by our women and men
in blue.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim October 2 through
October 8, 2016, as National Community Policing Week. I
call upon law enforcement agencies, elected officials,
and all Americans to observe this week by recognizing
ways to improve public safety, rebuild trust, and
strengthen community relationships.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord two
thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and forty-first.