US Policing Leader Apologizes For Racial Abuse read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/1321-us-policing-leader-apologizes-for-racial-abuse

The reaction from leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement was mixed, saying words needed to be backed by actions, while the head of an officers' union in Minnesota said there was no need to apologize.

The president of one of the largest police organizations in the United States on Monday apologized for historical mistreatment of minorities, calling it a "dark side of our shared history" that must be acknowledged and overcome.

Terrence Cunningham, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said at the group's annual conference that police have historically been a face of oppression, enforcing laws that ensured legalized discrimination and denial of basic rights. He was not more specific.

He has been police chief since 1999 in his hometown of Wellesley, Massachusetts, an affluent, overwhelmingly white, low-crime suburb near Boston.

He served three years as vice president of the police chiefs association before becoming president in 2015 for a one-year term.

His comments come as police shootings of black men have roiled communities in Ferguson, Missouri; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota; and as black shooters have targeted officers in Dallas, the St. Louis suburb of Ballwin and Baton Rouge.

Cunningham said. "We must forge a path that allows us to move beyond our history and identify common solutions to better protect our communities.

 

Cunningham received a standing ovation for his remarks before he introduced US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who largely avoided the topic.