Progressive groups urge Biden to take more aggressive steps on policing and criminal justice

"You cannot win the election without the enthusiastic support of Black voters, and how you act in this moment of crisis will play a big role in determining how Black votersm-- and all voters concerned with racial justice -- respond to your candidacy," the letter to the presumptive Democratic nominee reads. "A 'return to normalcy' will not suffice."

The letter comes amid a growing national conversation on racial justice and police brutality. Biden has sought to present himself as a unifier during this time while also pushing for some police reforms.

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The groups, which include several black-led organizations, specifically challenged the former vice president's proposal to invest $300 million in community policing, which he initially announced in 2019.

"We are here to tell you, unequivocally, that that is NOT the answer," the letter says. "The COPS program has directly contributed to the increased size and scope of policing in cities across the country, and the subsequent stream of violence and killings perpetrated by law enforcement on Black people in particular."

The groups instead press Biden to "ensure that the federal government permanently ends and ceases any further appropriation of funding to local law enforcement in any form, whether it be money for trainings, equipment, hiring, re-hiring, overtime, etc." and suggests the redirection of that funding to community services.

Biden's investment in community policing was part of his criminal justice plan released last summer, but he's renewed promoting the initiative amid heightened calls for police reform in the wake of nationwide protesting stemming from the death of George Floyd, a black man who died at the hands of police. The NAACP is among the groups to have supported community police efforts as well.

Biden has said he does not back efforts to defund the police but has indicated he supports "conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness, and, in fact, are able to demonstrate they can protect the community and everybody in the community."

The letter, which was signed by progressive groups like Black Voters Matter, the Sunrise Movement and the Working Families Party, suggests Biden adopt policies of the Movement for Black Lives, including reparations for black people, an issue Biden has said he'd like to study more.

Biden's candidacy has relied heavily on the support of black Democratic voters -- the bloc propelled him to victory in the South Carolina primary, a win that proved to be a turning point for his campaign -- and he'll need to need to continue engaging and mobilizing the group heading into the general election.

Biden recently announced support for a federal ban on police chokeholds, a move the groups praised in their letter. The former vice president also has called for re-establishing a Justice Department oversight panel that investigated police practices established during the Obama administration, and he has voiced support for an expansive police reform bill introduced by congressional Democrats.

Biden has held meetings with black activists and community and religious leaders in recent weeks to discuss combating systemic racism. The Biden campaign pointed to a recent speech in Philadelphia where Biden talked about the death of Floyd and the reforms he thinks should be enacted.

Biden said, "A down payment on what is long overdue should come now. Immediately."