'There won't be defunding': Trump defends police system

President Donald Trump insisted Monday the United States “won’t be dismantling our police.” He made the comments as Democrats proposed a far-reaching overhaul of police procedures and accountability same day.

The proposal is seen as a sweeping legislative response to the mass protests denouncing the deaths of black Americans in the hands of law enforcement.

“There’s a reason for less crime. That’s because we have great law enforcement. I’m very proud of them. There won’t be defunding. There won’t be a dismantling of our police.

“And they’re not going to be any disbanding of our police. Our police have been letting us live in peace. So we want to make sure we don’t have any bad actors in there,” the president said.

The “Justice in Policing Act” would limit legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force incidents and ban police choke holds, among other changes, the most ambitious law enforcement reforms sought by Congress in years.

The legislation would also revise the federal criminal police misconduct statute to make it easier to prosecute officers who are involved in misconduct “knowingly or with reckless disregard.”