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WASHINGTON \u2014 Susan Rice, the White House domestic policy adviser, called the leaders of the nation\u2019s largest policing groups last month to promise a significant reset in their relationship as the Biden administration finished an executive order on police reform, a move that averted a potential breach that had been brewing for months, according to several people briefed on the calls.<\/p>\n
The groups welcomed Ms. Rice\u2019s outreach, which amounted to a vow to incorporate more of their thinking in the order and possibly an implicit mea culpa. The White House had solicited input from the groups, but had not engaged with them on substance and details; their frustrations only soared in the days before her phone calls, when they were blindsided by the leak of an 18-page draft executive order that contained language they found objectionable.<\/p>\n
Ms. Rice\u2019s course correction dovetails with a broader shift in the White House toward a more centrist stance on policing as violent crime rises.<\/a> And it underscores President Biden\u2019s struggle to satisfy civil-rights groups, whose cries for reform hit a fever pitch after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police in May 2020, while blunting critics who say Democrats are soft on crime.<\/p>\n This more centrist view is likely to be on display when Mr. Biden meets on Thursday with the newly elected mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, a former police captain whose ascent illustrates how far Democrats have moved to the center on criminal justice issues, just two years after progressives began calling to defund the police.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In an interview, Ms. Rice sought to bridge that gap, saying that Mr. Biden\u2019s recognition that responsible, respectful policing is essential for effective public safety has not undermined his longtime support for law enforcement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYes, we need police on the streets, well equipped, but we need them to have the cooperation and trust of the community. These things are not in opposition \u2014 they are mutually reinforcing,\u201d Ms. Rice said.<\/p>\n She also noted that the draft executive order was not close to being done, and that many issues remained unresolved.<\/p>\n One sticking point is a guideline that could push federal officers, and most likely the state and local police, to tighten their use-of-force standard, which regulates when officers can shoot. Civil liberties groups have lauded the change, but police leaders have said they cannot abide it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, which advises departments on best practices, said that he had seen \u201csignificant breakthroughs\u201d in communications with the White House in recent weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not in opposition to reforms,\u201d he said. \u201cWe wanted to make sure that the executive order balanced the need for police reform with the changing nature of crime and policing happening across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n The roots of the order began with the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer<\/a> and the subsequent calls for reforms to address issues such as racism in policing and the use of lethal force.<\/p>\n As it became clear in September that a bill known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would fail to pass<\/a> the Senate, the White House began looking more closely at addressing some of the issues via an executive order. Ms. Rice and her team led its development.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In late summer, according to people familiar with the process, the White House began holding conference calls with groups it had spoken with about the Floyd legislation, including leaders of police groups \u2014 many of whom had endorsed aspects, but not all, of the bill \u2014 as well as civil rights groups and representatives of families of people killed by the police.<\/p>\n Those early calls included two listening sessions with law enforcement groups in late October: one with Terrence M. Cunningham, the deputy executive director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and Jim Pasco, the executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police and a longtime friend of Mr. Biden; and another with a broader group of similar organizations, an official said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The White House held about 20 meetings with various law enforcement groups from August to December, according to one official. But police leaders told members of Congress and senior law enforcement officials that the engagement seemed perfunctory.<\/p>\n Ms. Rice challenged that view, describing the meetings as part of a planned listening phase and said that officials intended to engage more deeply over draft language later.<\/p>\n Multiple advocates said the White House\u2019s meetings with civil-rights groups last year had also been \u201clistening\u201d style meetings.<\/p>\n As the draft process unfolded, officials said, the White House was separately warned that it needed to engage more with police leaders in order to secure their support for the final order. Among those making that case were two Democratic senators \u2014 Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Cory Booker of New Jersey, who had both worked on the George Floyd bill \u2014 as well as Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, and the No. 2 and No. 3 officials at the Justice Department, Lisa O. Monaco and Vanita Gupta.<\/p>\n During an early November meeting, for example, Mr. Durbin and Mr. Booker said that their districts were grappling with rising crime, and that it would be a practical and political problem to be at odds with the police, according to people briefed on that meeting.<\/p>\n