The Latest: Black Lives Matter is mixed on police apology

SAN DIEGO – The Latest on the International Association of Chiefs of Police president apologizing for historic mistreatment of people of colour in the United States (all times local):

2 p.m.

Leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement are giving mixed reviews to a law enforcement leader’s apology for historic mistreatment of people of colour in the United States.

Campaign Zero co-founder DeRay Mckesson said Monday that he looks forward to seeing comments by International Association of Chiefs of Police President Terrence Cunningham backed up by deep, structural changes to policing and the criminal justice system.

Charlene Carruthers, national director for the Chicago-based BYP100, says an apology doesn’t go far enough. She says a major step toward solving the problem is taking financial resources away from law enforcement and redirecting them into community-based programs.

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11:30 a.m.

The president of a group representing tens of thousands of law enforcement officers worldwide is apologizing for historic mistreatment of people of colour in the United States.

Terrence Cunningham said at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference Monday in San Diego that police have historically been a face of oppression in enforcing laws that ensure legalized discrimination and denial of basic rights.

Cunningham says past injustices have created mistrust between communities of colour and police. He says the group acknowledges and apologizes for those actions, but he also says today’s officers are not to blame for the past.

Cunningham, who is also the police chief in Wellesley, Massachusetts, received a standing ovation for his comments.