BEIJING, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Monday to address the distrust between police and minorities during his tenure, pledging more fund for police to purchase body-worn cameras in response to nationwide protests triggered by the events in Ferguson, Missouri.
Obama made the announcement after holding a series of meetings with his cabinet, civil rights leaders, and law enforcement officials.
However, his pledge has failed to contain the unrest, as protesters across the country on Monday walked off their jobs or away from classes in support of the Ferguson protesters.
MORE FUND
Obama said Monday that the 263 million U.S. dollar fund for law enforcement agencies is a response to the issue related with last week's decision of the Missouri grand jury not to indict police officer Darren Wilson, who shot Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American youth, to death in Ferguson.
Of the fund, 75 million dollars will be used to purchase up to 50,000 body-worn cameras for police departments nationwide to record police on the job.
Obama called on the Congress to approve the fund request, which is not considered emergency funding but expands his budget request for fiscal 2015.
Also on Monday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he would release new guidelines in the coming days to limit racial profiling by the federal law enforcement.
During the protests after the death of Brown in August, the Ferguson police have been criticized for the use of stun guns, rubber bullets and other military equipment against protesters
ADDRESS DISTRUST
Obama said Monday he would set up a task force on improving community policing and building trust between law enforcement officials and their communities.
Analysts believed the move is a new effort to build better trust between law enforcement and their communities.
The president also urged the federal agencies to make concentrated efforts to ensure his country is not building a "militarized culture" within police departments.
Tighter controls might be imposed on the proliferation of military-style weapons and equipment provided to the police, Obama said.
CRISIS UNSOLVED
Although Obama's Monday announcement showed some signs that his administration wants to solve the chronic racial discrimination, it did not stop the widespread protests.
On Monday, protests spread from New York to San Francisco, Chicago and Washington.
In Washington, a group of protesters snarled morning traffic from Northern Virginia into the city by shutting down a key artery at rush hour.
In New York, a couple hundred of protesters gathered in Union Square with signs reading "From Ferguson to NYC, end police terrorism" and "Ferguson is everywhere. Police brutality and murder must stop!"
At the University of Missouri-St. Louis, three dozen of students gathered outside the library and walked out of class, some with their hands up in the gesture that has become a symbol of the movement.
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Obama seeking for 263 mln USD for federal response to Ferguson issue
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WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Rage and unrest have once again taken over in the past week in Ferguson, a previously little-known northern suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, in the wake of a grand jury decision not to indict a white police officer in the fatal shooting of a black teenager in August.
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