White House says Biden crime address won’t undercut police reform bill

The White House said on Tuesday they don’t see President Biden’s upcoming address on rising crime rates as conflicting with negotiations on Capitol Hill over police reform legislation.

“There are negotiators that are continuing to make progress on the Hill, and the president supports and stands by a lot of these groups and their support and advocacy for long overdue police reform,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “He does not feel that they are conflicting.

“Communities across the country, where they are seeing — if you’re living in St. Louis and 96 percent of homicides, where we know the instrument, were done using a firearm — you do want to hear more about what the president of the United States will do to address that. If you’re living in New York City, you do want to hear more,” Psaki added.

Top negotiators on policing reform on Capitol Hill — Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) — are aiming to progress on a bill before the July 4 recess. Advocacy groups, including the Tampa Dream Defenders, have raised an alarm that the speech could undercut those efforts.

Biden’s speech on Wednesday will address that there’s been rising crime in U.S. cities over the last 18 months.

“Yes, there needs to be reforms of police systems across the country, the president is firm believer in that,” Psaki said. “But there are also steps he can take as president of the United States to help address and hopefully reduce that crime.”

She added that a central part of Biden’s speech will be on gun violence and what he can put in place, without action from Congress, to address it.

Homicide rates rose about 25 percent nationally in 2020 and more in some cities, like Atlanta, where the murder rate has risen more than 50 percent year-on-year as of May.

Updated ast June 23 at 5:53 a.m.