Obama: Racial bias in Ferguson PD not isolated

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — President Barack Obama said the racial discrimination in Ferguson, Mo., extends beyond that city's police department, and that law enforcement changes are a prime focus in the civil rights movement.

Improving civil rights and liberties with police is an area that "requires collective action and mobilization" a half-century after an earlier generation of activists changed the nation, the president said.

Those were Obama's first remarks about this week's Justice Department report of racial bias in Ferguson. It found officers routinely discriminated against blacks by using excessive force.

"I don't think that is typical of what happens across the country, but it's not an isolated incident," Obama said in an interview that aired today on "The Joe Madison Radio Show" on Sirius XM radio's Urban View channel.

"I think that there are circumstances in which trust between communities and law enforcement have broken down, and individuals or entire departments may not have the training or the accountability to make sure that they're protecting and serving all people and not just some," Obama said.

Obama was in Columbia to day for a town hall meeting at historically black Benedict College. He planned to speak about efforts young people made throughout history to expand opportunity.

The visit was Obama's first to South Carolina as president.