THE HILL: Obama signals he’ll put muscle behind response to police killings.

During a Thursday speech, Obama said he intends to “take more steps” with leaders like New York Mayor Bill de Blasio “in the months ahead to make sure that all Americans have confidence that police and law enforcement are serving everybody equally.”

“When it comes, as we’ve seen, unfortunately, in recent days, to our criminal justice system, too many Americans feel deep unfairness when it comes to the gap between our professed ideals and how laws are applied on a day-to-day basis,” Obama said.

He acknowledged addressing the issue was a big challenge, but said it should galvanize the country and bring Americans together.

The New York grand jury’s decision to not indict a police officer in the death of Garner, who was placed in a chokehold and said “I can’t breathe” as he was pulled to the ground, hit Washington like a sledgehammer.

The decision came just two weeks after a separate grand jury did not indict a white police officer in the death of Michael Brown, a black teenager.

Both decisions have provoked protests around the country, elevating the issue of criminal justice and police behavior.

But it remains unclear how long Obama and the White House will be focused on the issue given a breadth of other challenges facing the administration.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Dems really make a clean break with the police unions. Related: Police union leader says de Blasio threw officers ‘under the bus.’