June Democratic candidates debate in Miami FL: on Crime

John Hickenlooper: As Denver mayor, I diversified my police force

BUTTIGIEG: Because I couldn't get it done. Until we move policing out from the shadow of systemic racism, we will be left with the bigger problem of the fact that there is a wall of mistrust put up one racist act at a time.

Gov. John HICKENLOOPER (former mayor of Denver): I think that the question they're asking in South Bend and I think across the country is why has it taken so long? We had a shooting when I first became mayor, 10 years before Ferguson. And the community came together and we created an Office of the Independent Monitor, a Civilian Oversight Commission, and we diversified the police force in two years. We actually did de-escalation training. I think the real question that America should be asking is why, five years after Ferguson, every city doesn't have this level of police accountability.

Kamala Harris: Every black man is subject of profiling & discrimination

Marianne WILLIAMSON: All of these issues are extremely important, but they are specifics; they are symptoms. And the underlying cause has to do with deep, deep, deep realms of racial injustice, both in our criminal justice system and in our economic system.

Kamala HARRIS: As the only black person on this stage, I would like to speak on the issue of race. Race is still not being talked about truthfully and honestly. There is not a black man I know, be he a relative, a friend or a coworker, who has not been the subject of some form of profiling or discrimination. Growing up, my sister and I had to deal with the neighbor who told us her parents couldn't play with us because we were black.

Marianne Williamson: Deep, deep racial injustice means we should do reparations

South Bend Mayor Pete BUTTIGIEG: Look, we have taken so many steps toward police accountability that [I've been] denounced for too much accountability. We're obviously not there yet.

WILLIAMSON: All of these issues are extremely important, but they are specifics; they are symptoms. And the underlying cause has to do with deep, deep, deep realms of racial injustice, both in our criminal justice system and in our economic system. And the Democratic Party should be on the side of reparations for slavery for this very reason. I do not believe that the average American is a racist, but the average American is woefully undereducated about the history of race in the US.

Pete Buttigieg: Move policing out from the shadow of systemic racism

BUTTIGIEG: Because I couldn't get it done. My community is in anguish right now because of an officer-involved shooting, a black man, Eric Logan, killed by a white officer. And I'm not allowed to take sides until the investigation comes back. It's a mess. And we're hurting. And until we move policing out from the shadow of systemic racism, whatever this particular incident teaches us, we will be left with the bigger problem of the fact that there is a wall of mistrust put up one racist act at a time, not just from what's happened in the past, but from what's happening around the country in the present. I am determined to bring about a day when a white person driving a vehicle and a black person driving a vehicle, when they see a police officer approaching, feels the exact same thing.

Pete Buttigieg: I believe in police accountability and will implement it

BUTTIGIEG: Look, we have taken so many steps toward police accountability that [I've been] denounced for too much accountability. We're obviously not there yet, and I accept responsibility for that because I'm in charge.

Rep. Eric SWALWELL: If the camera wasn't on and that was the policy, you should fire the chief.

BUTTIGIEG: Under Indiana law, this will be investigated and there will be accountability for the officer involved.

SWALWELL: But you're the mayor. You should fire the chief--if that's the policy and someone died.

Beto O`Rourke: 2.3M Americans behind bars is most in the world

Bill de Blasio: Bringing police & community together drives down crime

So we need to have a different conversation in this country about guns, but also a different conversation about policing that brings police and community together. We've done that in New York City and we've driven down crime while we've done it.

Cory Booker: More black men are in jails now than under slavery

BOOKER: You know, when I got to the United States Senate, going back to what De Blasio said, as an African-American man in an African- American-dominated community, I knew one of the biggest issue was criminal justice reform, from police accountability to dealing with the fact that we have a nation that has more African-Americans under criminal supervision than all the slaves in 1850.