Tim Scott: Government Can Help With Resources for Law Enforcement

There are many opportunities for the federal government to help local police departments, but law enforcement should remain a local issue, Sen. Tim Scott said Sunday.

"The question is, can we weigh in on the national level and provide resources?" the South Carolina Republican told ABC's "This Week." "I think part of the national opportunity for us to provide resources is there, [but] I would be very careful on the federal level."

One way to help provide resources is through help funding body cameras for police officers, said Scott.

"I think body cameras lead us in the right direction," he said. "I say that because to at least one study, [they bring a] 90 percent drop in complaints against police officers and a 60 percent drop in the use of force. It helps the officers do their jobs better and keeps the officers safe and at the same time helps to keep the communities safe as well."

On Friday, federal officials announced a $20 million pilot program to help equip law enforcement agencies across the country with body cameras.

The program is part of a general push by American police agencies to outfit officers with cameras to provide clear recordings of arrests, and is part of a proposal by President Barack Obama last year to invest $75 million to purchase 50,000 body cameras.

Meanwhile, Scott said he has been working during his past three years in office on an opportunity agenda that focuses on the power of education.

"I was once that kid that we're talking about drifting in the wrong direction, flunking out of high school," he said. "If you look at the statistics surrounding educational achievement and the communities in most distress, what you'll find is that high levels of high school dropouts, which leads to high levels of unemployment, which leads to higher levels of hopelessness."

But that trend can be broken with a focus first on education and then on job skills, including apprenticeship programs that allow people to earn money while they learn a skill.

"We can provide open opportunity in communities by helping folks get a better education, which may include school choice and skills for the work force," said Scott. "There's this growing middle skills need in the workforce, where you need more than a high school education but less than a college degree, and you can earn a very strong income."

There have been many bipartisan calls for criminal justice reform, and Scott said he is part of a working group in Congress that has, in the last several month, been developing several proposals.

"I'm engaged in studying the patterns of who we incarcerate, and why and what we can do about it," said Scott. "We're open to it and the governors have done a fabulous job according to folks on the left leading the way for criminal justice reform."

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