After Dallas, Homeland Security Sec. Emphasizes Expansive Federal Role With Local Police [VIDEO]

On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson emphasized the role of the federal government among local police forces including through financial support and increased training.

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” host Martha Raddatz said, “Secretary Johnson, what about the federal government’s role in law enforcement? We have thousands and thousands of smaller police forces across the country. Dallas is considered quite progressive. Is there a role for the federal government in overseeing these local police departments to make sure there is uniformity?”

“Well, our role in the federal government, in addition to our own federal law enforcement efforts, there are literally tens of thousands of federal law enforcement officers in the Department of Homeland Security,” Johnson said. “But through our grant-making activity, through the encouragement of active shooter training exercises, through financial support, grant support for surveillance, for communications, through training, through our federal law enforcement training center and the like, there is a role for the federal government to play in supporting local law enforcement efforts.”

“Just in this administration, we’ve enhanced our cooperation with state and local law enforcement to deal with homeland security threats, to deal with challenges to public safety. So there’s absolutely a role and we’ve got to keep at that,” Johnson said.