George W. Bush Opines on Chauvin Trial: ‘There’s No Question There Needs to be Police Reform’

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Former President George W. Bush said in an interview he believes there is “no question” about a need for police reform.

“The question is, ‘What grade do you give police people?'” said in an interview with The Dispatch published on Friday. “The answer that is overall good except police departments need to learn to weed out those who don’t hold our fellow citizens in the same regard as they hold themselves, and there’s no question there needs to be police reform

“But I think one of the lessons that people will learn over time is that there’s no question there needs to be police,” he added. “And so I’m, you know, I, again I’m optimistic about the country’s capacity to take on real issues, and there is a real issue in police accountability. See. that thing after the riots at the Capitol that should be encouraging to people … is that the institutions held. And the question is, will the institutions of justice, hold, and be fair. And so far I think that’s been the case.”

He also said he believed “justice was served” by this month’s verdict that former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was guilty of second-degree murder and third-degree manslaughter. He did not explicitly mention the names of others recently killed during engagements with police, including that of Daunte Wright, but said he believed “a lot” had escaped public attention.

“We’ll see these other cases are going to be adjudicated,” Bush said. “I mean, the truth of the matter is there had been a lot. You know, you wonder how many, what you wonder how many might have been exposed with the internet. You know how much of this might have been just common practice and, you know, it feels to me that probably a lot more than we anticipate.”

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