Laverne Cox and US Senator Kamala Harris discuss defunding the police on Watch What Happens Live

Laverne Cox and US Senator Kamala Harris shared their thoughts on defunding the police Thursday while guests on Watch What Happens Live.

The 48-year-old actress was asked by host Andy Cohen, 52, to share what she has found valuable in regards to whites addressing racism following the death of George Floyd.

‘What I’m seeing that I’m most excited about is more white folks having conversations with each other. …So that with love and empathy they are able to have the conversations, because Black folks we have been aware of the situation for a very long time. And so seeing white people have conversations with each other is important,’ Cox said.

She added that in addition to winning ‘hearts and minds’ that policy change also was required.

‘The fact that there is a national conversation about defunding the police, I think is remarkable. That people of all races are having that conversation is really exciting to me,’ Laverne said.

Cohen then asked former presidential nominee Harris, 55, to talk about the defunding the police movement after pointing out the misconception by some that it means abolishing police departments.

‘At its essence, Andy, it really, I believe, is about re-imagining public safety and how we achieve it. For far too long the status quo thinking has been to believe that by putting more police on the street you’re going to have more safety. And that’s just wrong, that’s not how it works,’ Harris said.

‘The fact is that if you go to upper middle-class suburban neighborhoods you will not see that police presence. You will not see that patrol car driving up and down the street stopping teenage boys. But what you will you see in those communities is you will see very well funded schools. You will see high rates of home ownership. You will see families that the parents have enough of an income from their jobs to not worry about putting food on the table by the end of the month,’ she added.

‘You will see people who have the ability to afford the health care they need and the mental health care they need. You will see small businesses in those communities that have access to capital. So we have to re-imagine how we achieve public safety and understand that healthy communities are safe communities,’ Harris she said.

Harris said the way to create ‘healthy communities’ was by investing in core community needs such as educational opportunities, jobs, home ownership and affordable housing.

‘Those are the things that create healthy communities that are by definition safe communities,’ concluded the junior Senator from California.

Cohen also noted that former presidential nominee Amy Klobuchar, 60, recently had withdrawn from being considered for vice president by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, 77, while endorsing a woman of color for the position.

The host then asked Harris if she had spoken to Biden about becoming his running mate against Republican incumbent President Donald Trump, 74, and Vice President Mike Pence, 61, in the upcoming November general election.

‘In all candor and seriousness, this is truly what I mean. I want Joe Biden to win and I want him to pick whoever helps him win. I will do, in whatever capacity I’m in, everything in my power to help him win,’ Harris said.

Harris during a game segment called Kamala Share With Us revealed that she watches The Real Housewives Of Atlanta.

She earlier shared that her Housewives tagline would be, ‘I’ll give you my opinion, but my beliefs are never up for debate’.

Cox was on the Bravo talk show promoting her new Netflix documentary Disclosure in which leading transgender creatives and thinkers share their perspectives and analysis about Hollywood’s impact on the transgender community.

The actress rose to fame in 2013  with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black.

Harris and US Senator Cory Booker, 51, both Democrats, have sponsored the Justice In Policing Act of 2020 in the Republican-controlled Senate, while similar sweeping police reform legislation sponsored by Representative Karen Bass [D-California], 66, passed the US House Of Representatives on Thursday with a bipartisan vote of 236-181.