Police reform executive order will be opposite of 'defund the police': Pence
'The president will take decisive action,' Pence says
The executive order on law enforcement reform that President Trump is set to sign on Tuesday is the opposite of "defund the police," a rallying cry for many protesters angered by the death of George Floyd, Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday morning.
"The president will take decisive action," Pence said. "He will sign an executive order that will set into motion new resources, new standards on the use of force, a way to be able to track when we see inappropriate use of force and also resources to encourage using other public officials like social workers in interaction with the public. ... We're not going to defund the police, quite the contrary."
GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTERS PUSH TO DEFUND THE POLICE: WHAT IT MEANS
Some say "defund the police" means diverting police department funding to alleviate poverty and therefore reduce crime, while others say it means abolishing police departments entirely.
An ACLU petition calling to "divest from the police" had more than 120,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning.
Protesters rally Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in Phoenix, demanding the Phoenix City Council defund the Phoenix Police Department. (AP Photo/Matt York)
"The most recent eruption of protests across the U.S. – demanding justice for George Floyd, Dreasjon Reed, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless other Black people who have been killed by police – has laid bare what we've known for too long: The policing institutions in our country are deeply entrenched in racism and brutality, and we cannot allow it to continue," the petition reads.
Pence reiterated the Trump administration's stance on Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis.
"What happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis was a national tragedy and a disgrace," Pence said Tuesday.