Julian Castro is currently the only Democratic presidential candidate who is promoting a police reform policy, and it’s a topic he discussed during a recent interview.

Sitting down with SiriusXM’s “The Clay Cane Show,” Castro reflected on Eric Garner’s case and described it as a “travesty.” Eric Garner was strangled on camera five years ago this month and the Justice Department did not bring federal charges against NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo. It is still being determined if he can remain police officer. Pantaleo is currently on “administrative leave.”

“It is a tremendous failure of our justice system,” Castro said. “It’s a travesty and my police reform plan would ensure that there’s more accountability, more transparency, we demilitarize police, and stop, and frisk, and racial profiling, and also establish a national use of force standard that says that an officer should only use force if they’ve exhausted all other reasonable alternatives in the circumstances. Why should you be treated differently if your skin color is black, white or if you live in New York City versus living in small town Texas?”

As part of his police accountability initiatives, Castro would aim to decertify any police officer who shoots an unarmed civilian. It would entail establishing “a public national database that tracks all police officers decertified in any state or locality, to ensure full transparency of officers when seeking employment in other states,” his campaign website states. “This effort would build on the success of the National Decertification Index established by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training. Incentivize state and local governments to use this national database when hiring officers.”

He spoke about declassification and the dangers of reintegrating police officers who have used excessive force into other police departments on "The Clay Cane Show." 

“We've seen video after video after video of too many of these instances where, especially young Black men, are treated differently with excessive force at the hands of police and that’s not an accident,” he said.

Listen to the interview below:

Also during the interview, Julian Castro spoke about who currently holds his former job as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, and claims he doesn’t embody what agency was created to do, especially for those living in public housing.

“It just doesn’t seem like he really believes in the mission of the organization. This administration thinks that if you’re poor, there’s something wrong with you,” Castro started.
See a clip below.