REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, WASHINGTON -- US President Barack Obama on Tuesday condemned rioting in Baltimore, saying there was "no excuse" for the violence, but acknowledged a "slow-rolling crisis" in community policing, especially in treatment of African Americans.

"We have seen too many instances of what appears to be police officers interacting with individuals -- primarily African American, often poor -- in ways that raise troubling questions," Obama told reporters at the White House.

"I think there are police departments that have to do some soul-searching. I think there's some communities that have to do some soul-searching. I think we as a country have to do some soul-searching."

Obama was reacting to the violence that erupted in Baltimore after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American man who died after suffering a spine injury while in police custody.