The White House is going against FBI Director James Comey, who said in a speech on Friday that added scrutiny of police is inhibiting them from doing their jobs and driving up crime in some cities,
The New York Times reports.
"The evidence we have seen so far doesn't support the contention that law enforcement officials are shirking their responsibilities," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said during Monday's daily briefing. "In fact, you hear law enforcement leaders across the country indicating that that’s not what's taking place."
Comey said in his Friday speech that he had no numbers to back up his assertion, but said many police officers have told him they often don't feel like getting out of their cars because they are met with a crowd of citizens pointing their cellphone cameras at them.
Comey did say that cheaper drugs and easier access to guns likely causes of the rise in crime, but he said he is most convinced that officers are afraid of doing their jobs because of intense focus on police after incidents such as those in Ferguson, Missouri and Balitmore, where unarmed black men died from police shootings or in police custody.
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