Orange Is the New Black actress Laverne Cox has said it is ‘remarkable and exciting’ that discussions are taking place about defunding the police.

She was appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen alongside US Senator Kamala Harris.

Addressing the Black Lives Matter movement, she said: "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.”

She added that while winning ‘hearts and minds’ is needed to make change happen she also said policy changes are crucial.

“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,” she said.

Cohen then asked Senator Harris what her take on defunding the police is.

She replied: "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.

"The fact is that if you go to upper middle-class suburban neighbourhoods 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.

“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 was a contender for the Democrat nomination for the Presidential election in November.

And she was asked if Joe Biden has spoken to her about being his running mate for the White House.

“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,” she added.