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Ever since a Missouri grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer who killed an unarmed black man, President Obama has been under pressure to use his bully pulpit to criticize the outcome and take the lead in a national conversation about race in America.

But on Monday, he met with law enforcement officers, young activists and politicians, and mostly avoided talking publicly about the case. Instead, he focused more broadly on the tensions between police and those theyre sworn to protect, proposing a three-year, $263-million spending package to expand training and increase the use of body-worn cameras for monitoring officers interactions with the public.

Ferguson laid bare a problem that is not unique to St. Louis or that area, and is not unique to our time, and that is a simmering distrust that exists between too many police departments and too many communities of color, Obama said.

His comments came amid a debate among White House officials about whether the president should address Ferguson head-on, perhaps with a major speech on race or a trip there, advisors say. Although Obama hasnt ruled out traveling to the town, he has concluded so far that theres not much he can say about the shooting of Michael Brown, 18, by Officer Darren Wilson that would bridge divisions, according to a senior administration official familiar with internal discussions on the matter.

The facts in Ferguson are too disputed to address, with eyewitnesses offering divergent views about what led to the Aug. 9 shooting, according to the prevailing view among Obamas aides.

The White House is also mindful not to appear to be meddling in a federal civil rights investigation of the shooting, nor to let Ferguson consume Obama's agenda as he eyes the legacy-forming steps he'll take in his final two years in office.

Obama opted for bureaucratic moves focused on law enforcement in general. As part of his broader spending plan, he proposed $75 million to outfit officers in police departments with body cameras. He also directed his staff to come up with a new executive order within four months to require additional training for local police who get military equipment from the Pentagon.

He believes that policy changes can take hold in the long run and help solve larger social problems, one aide said. Although Obama acknowledged that previous commissions and task forces have not solved the problems, this time will be different, he said, because the president of the United States is deeply invested in making sure that this time is different.

The policy response drew mixed reactions.

Jim Bueermann, president of the Police Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit that studies policing, applauded the indication that Obamas executive order would encourage greater civilian oversight of what equipment local agencies could obtain.

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Obama seeks $263 million for training, body cameras for local police