Obama says more must be done to address US police shootings

A protestor is detained by NYPD officer as people take part in a protest for the killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile during a march along Manhattan's streets in New York July 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Obama encouraged local police forces to adopt the practices outlined by the task force, saying that less distrust of police would help to keep officers safe and lead to less deadly shootings by authorities.

Critics of the push to reform local police tactics have charged that Obama has not shown enough concern about police officers who are shot in the line of duty.

Obama repeatedly stressed that he believes that most police officers do their jobs without bias and that addressing complaints about police brutality would not undermine law enforcement.

"When people say black lives matter, that doesn't mean blue lives don't matter. It just means that all lives matter, but right now the big concern is the fact that data shows black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of attacks," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Obama issued a Facebook post urging the nation to address the "appearance or reality of racial bias" in policing.