Police push back against Trump’s law-and-order speech
USA - President Donald Trump’s statement encouraging police officers to be “rough” with people they arrest has drawn criticism in law enforcement circles for sending the wrong message at a time of heightened tensions with the public. “As a department, we do not and will not tolerate ‘rough(ing)’ up prisoners,” the Suffolk County Police Department said in a statement. Trump delivered a combative lawand-order speech in the New York suburb Friday, calling gang members “animals” and praising law enforcement for being “rough.” Speaking before law enforcement officers, Trump praised the aggressive tactics of immigration officers and suggested that police shouldn’t protect the heads of handcuffed suspects being put in the back of a car. “When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon. You see them thrown in rough. I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice,’” Trump said to applause, referring to officers shielding prisoners’ heads with their hands. “Like, don’t hit their head and they’ve just killed somebody. I said, ‘You can take the hand away, OK?’” From Boston to Los Angeles, however, law enforcement agencies pushed back. The police statement in the suburb where Trump spoke added, “The Suffolk County Police Department has strict rules and procedures relating to the handling of prisoners, and violations of those rules and procedures are treated extremely seriously.” Suffolk County police have been under Justice Department oversight since 2013, after a federal investigation exposed a pattern of anti-immigrant violence. A Boston Police Department statement said its “priority has been and continues to be building relationships and trust with the community we serve. As a police department we are committed to helping people, not harming them.” In New York, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said in a statement that to “suggest that police officers apply any standard in the use of force other than what is reasonable and necessary is irresponsible, unprofessional and sends the wrong message to law enforcement as well as the public.” The head of the New York City agency tasked with investigating complaints against officers also denounced the remarks. “President Trump’s comments fly in the face of the responsibility our city’s officers display in the line of duty,” Maya Wiley, chairwoman of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, said in a statement. “But for many communities in our city, President Trump’s comments only (stoke) fears of interacting with officers. President Trump’s speech today was shameful, dangerous, and damages the progress our city has made toward improving police-community relations.”
(CNN)