Law Enforcement Leaders Say Trump's Strong Support For Police Saves Lives

[Buzzsaw Checkerling]

Line-of-duty deaths, including fatal shootings of police officers, are
down this year

by Andrea Noble
December 26, 2017
The Washington Times

Top law enforcement leaders say they have had no bigger advocate this
year than President Trump, and they are hopeful he has set the stage
for fewer dangerous confrontations between officers and the public,
better-equipped departments and, ultimately, reductions in crime.

Early signs are encouraging. Line-of-duty deaths, including fatal
shootings of police officers, are down this year. Preliminary reports
from major cities indicate that crime increases reported in the past
two years are subsiding.

The Justice Department’s new focus on policing results has also toned
down tensions between the federal government and local agencies.
Meanwhile, racially tinged standoffs between police and the public have
dissipated.

But police say they are still worried about the challenges of the
opioid epidemic and wary of how they will balance the Trump
administration’s focus on curbing illegal immigration without
alienating immigrant communities with which they are trying to build
trust.

Despite the occasional tiffs with federal law enforcement and
intelligence agencies, Mr. Trump has steadfastly praised the work of
local police departments, providing a much-needed boost in morale for
officers across the country.

“Arguably the most significant thing a president can do is use the
bully pulpit to reflect his support for law enforcement,” said National
Fraternal Order of Police Executive Director Jim Pasco. “To this point
in his presidency, he has certainly gone out of his way to do that.
That resonates within the profession, and it’s received very favorably.”

Police said one big change is Attorney General Jeff Sessions’
curtailment of a favorite Obama-era tool: court-approved consent
decrees to force reforms on local police departments. Departments that
faced questions about officer misconduct or use-of-force felt they were
being pushed into consent decrees that last for years at considerable
cost.

Chief Tom Manger, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association,
said police forces were willing to work with the Justice Department but
felt the relationship had turned one-sided.

“We were frustrated toward the end of the Obama administration with the
Justice Department and some of their decisions with regard to consent
decrees and how they were dealing with individual police departments
they are reviewing or investigating,” said Chief Manger, who also leads
the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland.

He said there is still federal oversight, but it’s less combative.

Mr. Pasco said clashes between police and protesters at demonstrations
have also slowed in recent months.

“People who otherwise might feel empowered in making these attacks see
far less empathy or support from authority figures than they may have
in the past,” he said.

Among the more traditional measures of public safety, the numbers are
trending in the right direction.

The number of homicides reported in the 30 largest U.S. cities fell by
4.4 percent, according to a Dec. 20 Brennan Center for Justice report
that appears to belie fears of a surging national crime wave.

Law enforcement officials also say they are seeing cooperation in other
areas of high interest to local police.

“I sense from those in the administration that they want to be nimble
enough to find what will work,” said Jonathan Thompson, head of the
National Sheriff’s Association, pointing to the opioid crisis in
particular.

Last week, the Justice Department announced the creation of a
senior-level position tasked with overseeing efforts to combat the
nationwide opioid epidemic. Mr. Sessions previously urged each federal
prosecutor’s office to appoint an opioid coordinator to oversee the
intake of all cases involving opioids, heroin and fentanyl.

One area of conflict, though, is immigration policy, where Mr. Trump
and Mr. Sessions are pushing local departments to do more to cooperate
with federal officers trying to deport illegal immigrants.

While the Obama administration was critical of “sanctuary cities” that
shield illegal immigrants from exposure to deportation, the Trump
administration has heightened the attacks and threatened to strip
federal money from cities and counties that refuse to cooperate.

Mr. Thompson said the sheriffs association has spent the past eight
months working with ICE to develop a solution to the issue. But cities
including Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco have resisted and
have even gone to court to try to head off pressure from the
administration to report illegal immigrants.

As the court battles play out, jurisdictions across the U.S. are
missing out on vital grant funding whether they cooperate or not.

The Justice Department has withheld $257 million in 2017 grants,
concerned it won’t be able to ensure cities follow the rules if the
money is distributed before the legal battles are settled.

“Holding up very important money from police officers because the
federal government can’t solve immigration is just obnoxious,” said
Ronal Serpas, chairman of the group Law Enforcement Leaders and a
former superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department. “It’s being
put on the backs of local police departments when in fact it’s a
federal issue that needs to be solved.”

Complicating the problem, it’s often in poor, minority communities
where a lack of trust between police and citizens lingers and can
create problems in addressing crime, Mr. Serpas said.

“They have less resources, so that’s where the police end up being
called to solve a problem they do not have the tools to solve,” he said.

He said officers are eager to target serious criminals but that asking
them to go after lower-level offenders who would instead benefit from
drug and alcohol counseling or mental health treatment sends mixed
messages about the administration’s priorities.

“Let’s see some reality in solving some of the underlying issues that
are creating the problems,” Mr. Serpas said. “That is where the real
support will come from — when they fix those issues.”

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"Known fact that Leftists hate the President of the United States;
what's not known is why they hate The United States of America."