President Barack Obama announced this week that he will seek $263 million from Congress to better train police officers nationwide.

The announcement came on the same day the president met with civil rights leaders and law enforcement officials to talk about Ferguson where protests have occurred since a white police officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed an unarmed African-American teenager, Michael Brown. A St. Louis County grand jury failed to indict the police officer last week leading to a week of protests against police brutality.

On meeting the young activists, President Obama was struck hard by the descriptions of their experiences and said the U.S. would work towards reducing the "simmering distrust" between police and communities of color. 

"It violates my belief in what America can be to hear young people feeling marginalized and distrustful, even after they've done everything right. That's not who we are. That's not who the overwhelming majority of Americans want us to be," the president told reporters.

From the allocation of funds from Congress, Obama specifically requested $75 million to be used to purchase 50,000 body cameras for the nation's police departments. States will have to match the order to receive the money, and the program would be allocated over three years. The remaining $118 million would be used for training and outreach programs to building trust between communities and law enforcement, The Hill reported.

New York's Public Advocate Letitia James who has pushed for the rapid adoption of body cameras for the New York Police Department commended the president's announcement.

"Since July, I have called for the New York City Police Department and departments nationwide to outfit officers with body-worn cameras. Within months, the NYPD announced a pilot program -- expected to begin in the upcoming weeks -- to equip some of our city's police officers with cameras," James said. "Police-worn cameras are also the single most effective way to enhance accountability and transparency in policing. I commend President Obama on his bold stance in support of incorporating technology into our public safety practices. I call on all policy-makers nationwide to move swiftly to make body-worn cameras a reality."

The president added he does not want to see a "militarized" police culture moving forward, referring to the shocking display of a heavily militarized police force visible to the American public when protests first broke out in Ferguson after Brown's death on Aug. 9.

The White House announced that its review of the Pentagon program transferring military equipment to local police discovered a "lack of consistency' in how the program is run -- five different government agencies review equipment applications, but each agency has a different vetting process. The president will sign an executive order mandating the department to develop one policy that will run across agencies for evaluating proposals and will allow for civilian oversight of purchases.