LAPD Chief Beck, Sheriff McDonnell Discuss Race Relations In Hour-Long Special

STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — Less than two weeks after a heavily armed man ambushed and killed five Dallas police officers, another gunman drove 800 miles from his home to kill officers in Baton Rouge.

Both suspected shooters were black, had military training, and high-powered weapons and both reportedly targeted officers as payback for the recent police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.

The recent police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the killings of officers have shocked the nation and many fear society as a whole is under attack.

Both Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell agree they are worried about where America is going. They appeared in an hour-long special on KCAL9 News for an in-depth discussion on law, order, and race.

"We are a First World country, a First World economy, and leader of the free world and the most violent First World nation on Earth," said Beck, while McDonnell said, "We are at a place where I haven't seen this nation in probably in my lifetime."

With the recent shootings of Sterling in Baton Rouge and Castile in Minneapolis, bringing public trust in law enforcement to an all-time low, Beck and McDonnell understand why trust is so compromised.

Beck admitted the LAPD is so focused on stopping crime, the department forgets about connecting with the community it serves.

"Friday, we'll be releasing the results of our first city-wide community survey about how people feel about the police and the goal is to do them regularly," he said.

But co-founder of Black Lives Matter (BLM) Patrisse Cullors says attempts at dialogue have fallen on deaf ears within law enforcement.

"We want to stop being killed on the street and we want to be able to live a life of dignity here in this country, in America in particular," she said.

Community activist and supporter of BLM Danny Bakewell says, while the killings of police officers is tragic and wrong , he says this level of violence manifests when people are oppressed for too long.

"You can only oppress and suppress a people for so long before there is an explosion and many of these killings of the police officers represents that explosion," he said.

Click below to watch other clips of the segment: