Following the tragic shooting of 22-year-old Stephon Clark in Sacramento, Senator Kamala Harris of California returned to her home state to speak at a town hall where she demanded police officers address possible racial bias, according to the Associated Press. 

California's first black senator also called for better training in response to Clark's shooting.

“There is no question that that was a life that should not have been lost,” Harris said in Sacramento. “That is a life that should not have been ended.”

Clark, a father of two, was shot at 20 times in his grandparent's backyard by Sacramento police officers Sunday, March 18. The officers were responding to a 911 call about a man with a "tool bar" allegedly vandalizing cars. Officers suspected Clark was the culprit.

Authorities claimed he was armed and posed a threat to the officers on scene that night; however, that was not the case. In the days following the shooting, new details about the shooting emerged and revealed Clark had only a cellphone in his hand. An independent autopsy conducted by a doctor hired by Clark's family showed that eight of the shots penetrated the victim's body from behind or the side. 

Clark's grandmother, who was in the crowd of several hundred people, gave Harris a standing ovation for her statements.   

“My heart breaks for what has happened,” Harris said.

Harris said that she understands that everyone has a bias of some sort but reminded the crowd that police have the power to take life in an instant, making their biases potentially deadly. She stressed that officers must receive adequate training to understand how their unconscious biases can affect their decisions in the field.

“When your bias is coupled with the fact that you carry a gun, it is something that has to be a priority for all of us,” the junior senator said.

Her home state hopes to prevent future shootings like Clark's by changing the standard of use of force from “reasonable force” to “necessary force,” but Harris said there is still work to be done.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the language,” Harris said. “I think they’re very interesting [proposals]. Certainly there’s work to be done.”

Police brutalitySen. Kamala Harrisstephon clarkstevante clark