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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, right, addresses the audience during a round table to improve relations between local law enforcement and the community Feb. 5, 2015, at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND -- Attorney General Eric Holder reiterated his call for local police to wear body cameras during a roundtable discussion in downtown Oakland Thursday that brought local police chiefs and community advocates together to talk trust.

After police shootings of African-Americans in Missouri, New York and Ohio triggered violent nationwide protests and spawned the Black Lives Matter movement, Holder started holding similar meetings across the country and has done so in Atlanta; Cleveland; Memphis, Tennessee; Chicago; and Philadelphia.

"What has struck me in all these meetings is that people on both sides want the same things," said Holder, who mentioned that his brother is a retired police officer. "They want to be safe, they want their children to be safe, and they want to be treated in a fair way. Police officers want to be safe and be respected."

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder chairs a round table to improve relations between local law enforcement and the community Feb. 5, 2015, at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group)

The Oakland meeting was the last of the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. Holder will step down from his post in a few weeks.

Holder made public comments at the Oakland Federal Building, which included a call for an end to racial profiling, for about 10 minutes before closing the meeting to the press.

In addition to local police chiefs like Oakland's Sean Whent and Berkeley's Michael Meehan, the meeting included Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Rep. Barbara Lee and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag. Bishop Bob Jackson of Acts Full Gospel, Alicia Garza of Black Lives Matter, and representatives from East Oakland Youth Development Center and Youth UpRising were among the community leaders attending the roundtable.

"Body cameras tend to reduce the number of complaints and are a very useful tool in trying to determine what was the nature of action between officers and someone in the community," Holder said.

In the East Bay, the issue of police body cameras and race jumped to the front page Tuesday, when two Emeryville police officers shot and killed a female theft and carjacking suspect they say pointed a gun at them.

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In Oakland meeting, Attorney General Eric Holder calls for body cameras

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, right, addresses the audience during a round table to improve relations between local law enforcement and the community Feb. 5, 2015, at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND -- Attorney General Eric Holder reiterated his call for local police to wear body cameras during a roundtable discussion in downtown Oakland Thursday that brought local police chiefs and community advocates together to talk trust.

After police shootings of African-Americans in Missouri, New York and Ohio triggered violent nationwide protests and spawned the Black Lives Matter movement, Holder started holding similar meetings across the country and has done so in Atlanta; Cleveland; Memphis, Tennessee; Chicago; and Philadelphia.

"What has struck me in all these meetings is that people on both sides want the same things," said Holder, who mentioned that his brother is a retired police officer. "They want to be safe, they want their children to be safe, and they want to be treated in a fair way. Police officers want to be safe and be respected."

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder chairs a round table to improve relations between local law enforcement and the community Feb. 5, 2015, at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group)

The Oakland meeting was the last of the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. Holder will step down from his post in a few weeks.

Holder made public comments at the Oakland Federal Building, which included a call for an end to racial profiling, for about 10 minutes before closing the meeting to the press.

In addition to local police chiefs like Oakland's Sean Whent and Berkeley's Michael Meehan, the meeting included Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Rep. Barbara Lee and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag. Bishop Bob Jackson of Acts Full Gospel, Alicia Garza of Black Lives Matter, and representatives from East Oakland Youth Development Center and Youth UpRising were among the community leaders attending the roundtable.

"Body cameras tend to reduce the number of complaints and are a very useful tool in trying to determine what was the nature of action between officers and someone in the community," Holder said.

In the East Bay, the issue of police body cameras and race jumped to the front page Tuesday, when two Emeryville police officers shot and killed a female theft and carjacking suspect they say pointed a gun at them.

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Attorney General Eric Holder calls for body cameras

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder spoke with a group of San Francisco youthThursday about police and minorities as part of his recent efforts to address the ongoing distrust between communities of color and police. Under heavy security, Holder held the sixth such meeting, this one with a group of local youth in a Hunters Point recreation center. Holders meetings on a lack of trust expressed between communities of color and law enforcement comes months after two grand juries in New York and Missouri declined to prosecute white police officers in the killings of two unarmed black men and sparked subsequent nationwide protests. We have seen a lot of incidents in our country that ... really gives us a lot of worry, Holdersaid Thursdaybefore a group of students, Mayor Ed Lee, Police Chief Greg Suhr and U.S. Attorney Linda Haag. Holder ended his brief comments by saying that we as a nation have not addressed the issue of race and policing, and that is why he held the meeting in the recreation center, which has headed up efforts to build connections between local youth and police. Across the street from theWillie Mays Boys & Girls Club at Hunters Point, where Holder was having his private talk,residents of the Westbrook public-housing project had their own thoughts on police and community relations in San Francisco. Lilla Pittman said she would tell Holder there needs to be more sensitivity training among San Francisco police officers. Often, when police do get out of their cars, they seem to be looking to find problems rather than trying to solve them, she said. The rest of the time there are too few police officers in the area and the officers that do come around only roll past in their cars, she said. Shana Davis, another area resident, agreed with Pittman. The police, they stereotype the young black boys, Davis charged. The youths who are often dealt with by police hang out in the streets, she said, because they have few job prospects and little to do. The recreation center is the one place to play or be active, Davis said. But kids who dont live immediately near the Boys & Girls Club are often afraid to attend, she said. Thats because public-housing residents from nearby projects are fearful of venturing into the area and vice versa. But more basic unmet needs could help deter crime, she suggested. Kiska Road, which runs in front of her apartment, needs basic upgrades like speed bumps and street lights, she said. If the neighborhood is it lit up, she said, there would be less crime. And people would have to slow down if there were speed bumps.

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US attorney general visits SF to speak about community relations with police

13-15391 City of Oakland v. Eric Holder, Jr.
The City of Oakland appeals the district court #39;s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) dismissal of Oakland #39;s action challenging the U.S. Department of Justice #39;s effort to shut down the Harborside Health...

By: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

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13-15391 City of Oakland v. Eric Holder, Jr. - Video

Eric Holder Fires Back at GOP - " Theres Been No Politicization of This Justice Department "
Last week the Senate held confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch, but a lot of the questions from Republicans centered around the current occupant of that office,...

By: Tammy Lerner

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Eric Holder Fires Back at GOP - " Theres Been No Politicization of This Justice Department " - Video