The Grio
Governor Gavin Newsom is doubling down on his commitment to social justice reform in the state of California.
In an exclusive interview with theGrio, the first-term governor, 52, revealed that he is working with California lawmakers to revamp public safety—but stopped short of advocating for defunding the police, a growing demand from Black Lives Matter leaders.
“The bottom line is we’re asking the police to do things that they shouldn’t be doing,” Newsom explained on Wednesday. “We’ve asked them to be social workers, we’ve asked them to be addiction specialists, behavioral health specialists. We simply require the police to take on too many roles and responsibilities. I think fundamentally, beginning to pull back and structurally reforming what we are asking of police departments is long overdue.”
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