Bill Clinton: “I think that's a good idea, Mayor Crabb. I think the goal can be achieved, but it's important that we achieve it in a…”

“I think that's a good idea, Mayor Crabb. I think the goal can be achieved, but it's important that we achieve it in a way that you feel is maximizing your ability to do a good job and that we do it in a way that achieves the ultimate objective, which is safer streets and more robust and hopeful communities. So I'd like to have the meeting with you and, obviously, representatives of the police chiefs. There are three or four different avenues that we can pursue to get to our ultimate goal of having 100,000 more police officers. And we really need to talk about what's best for you, what works best, how you can get folks with the maximum flexibility to pursue community policing strategies. I'm very interested in this. This is something that the Attorney General and I have had several conversations about already, and there are a lot of people in the White House itself working hard on this. I think we ought to get our group together and meet with your group and just talk it out, and we can develop a coordinated 4-year plan to get the job done. I'm anxious to do it. It's one thing we can do that will literally change the lives of most Americans who live in the communities affected by it. And we need to continue to work on it until we get the job done. [Mayor Althaus again thanked the President and reaffirmed the mayors' support for him.]”