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NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE PUSHES WHITE HOUSE TO ACT ON POLICE BRUTALITY

Washington, D.C. (February 17, 1999) -- Today, National Urban League President, Hugh B. Price, called on President Clinton to, "Exert every means of leadership at your disposal to address the festering issue of police abuse of minorities."

In an open letter to the President, Price stated that police abuse has reached the crisis stage and now undermines the credibility of the nation’s justice system. The request for immediate action is intended to encourage the President to continue his commitment to improving race relations in this country by targeting police brutality as the next key issue of his presidency.

Price urged the President to force the needed dialog and forge a balanced solution to the problem by taking several critical steps, including:

• Utilize his bully pulpit to draw national attention to this crisis
• Convene a White House summit on the issue
• Instruct the Attorney General to prosecute vigorously all egregious abuses of civil rights
• Instruct the Justice Department to conduct public hearings around the country to ferret out evidence about the problems of police misconduct
• Request that the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights conduct its own inquiry

The letter comes on the heels of several highly publicized incidents of police brutality, of which numerous cases where highlighted in Price’s letter to the President.

Price stated to the President, that there are, "recurring instances of improper use of deadly force, excessive use of force, racial profiling, abuse of basic civil liberties, and routine harassment of minorities who have done little or nothing wrong."

Pointing to the President’s Office on One America, which serves to ensure that the federal government works to ameliorate racial strife and promote harmonious race relations, Price stated that: "There cannot be One America if law enforcement officials have license to split America apart."

Founded in 1910, the National Urban League remains the premier social service and civil rights organization in America. The League is a nonprofit, community-based organization headquartered in New York City, with 115 affiliates in 34 states and the District of Columbia.