Police Chiefs Criticize Trump Speech On Police Violence

Police Chiefs Criticize Trump Speech On Police Violence

Note:  President Trump spoke to the International Association of Police and endorsed mistreatment of people under arrest. We are pleased to see police chiefs criticizing Trump’s comments and urging police to follow rules and treat people arrested with respect. But, we also note that too often police do not treat citizens with respect. Popular Resistance has reported on people being killed while in police custody, suffering police brutality and being killed by police, too often these cases seem to be race-based.  Police chiefs must do more to ensure police serve communities and treat people with respect. In our view, the power dynamic between police and communities must be changed. The people must control how their communities are policed that means community control of police. We would like to see elected officials and police chiefs speaking in favor of community control of police. KZ

Police Chiefs Defend ‘Respect’ After Trump Appears To Endorse Brutality

The International Association of Police Chiefs sends out a timely lesson on use of force.

Law enforcement officials from around the world released a statement in apparent response to President Donald Trump’s speech Friday to cops in New York in which he appeared to encourage police brutality.

After his speech, the International Association of Chiefs of Police published a blog post that detailed its use-of-force policies and training, highlighting the need for officers to “ensure that any use of force is carefully applied and objectively reasonable.”

The association explained that officers are trained to treat all individuals “with dignity and respect.”

“This is the bedrock principle behind the concepts of procedural justice and police legitimacy,” the IACP wrote.

Managing use of force is one of the most difficult challenges faced by law enforcement agencies. The ability of law enforcement officers to enforce the law, protect the public, and guard their own safety, the safety of innocent bystanders, and even those suspected or apprehended for criminal activity is very challenging. For these reasons, law enforcement agencies develop policies and procedures, as well as conduct extensive training, to ensure that any use of force is carefully applied and objectively reasonable considering the situation confronted by the officers.

Law enforcement officers are trained to treat all individuals, whether they are a complainant, suspect, or defendant, with dignity and respect. This is the bedrock principle behind the concepts of procedural justice and police legitimacy.

While speaking at the Suffolk County Community College in Long Island about the administration’s efforts to take on immigrant gangs, Trump joked that officers should be rougher with suspects and suggested letting them hit their heads on police cars.

“When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, and I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice,’” Trump said.

“Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over, like, don’t hit their head and they’ve just killed somebody,” he added. “Don’t hit their head, I said, ‘You can take the hand away, OK?’”

His comments elicited cheers from the audience of law enforcement, which included local lawmakers, officers from the Suffolk County Police Department, the Nassau County Police Department acting police commissioner Patrick Ryder, Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco and deputies and jail guards from the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office, according to Newsday reporter Nicole Fuller.

The IACP is made up of 27,000 law enforcement professionals representing more than 130 countries, according to the association’s website. The IACP did not immediately respond to HuffPost when asked why the association published the statement Friday.

The IACP isn’t the only group that spoke out against Trump’s remarks.

The Suffolk County Police Department, which reportedly had over 100 officers who attended Trump’s speech, tweeted Friday that it has “strict rules and procedures” when handling prisoners, adding that any violations to those rules are treated “extremely seriously.”

“As a department, we do not and will not tolerate roughing up of prisoners,” SCPD tweeted later.

 Follow

Suffolk County PD 

✔@SCPDHq

The SCPD has strict rules & procedures relating to the handling of prisoners. Violations of those rules are treated extremely seriously.

1:53 PM - Jul 28, 2017

•  1,7651,765 Replies
 
•  9,2949,294 Retweets
 
•  33,29333,293 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy

28 Jul

Suffolk County PD 

 ✔@SCPDHq

The SCPD has strict rules & procedures relating to the handling of prisoners. Violations of those rules are treated extremely seriously.

 Follow

Suffolk County PD 

✔@SCPDHq

As a department, we do not and will not tolerate roughing up of prisoners.

1:53 PM - Jul 28, 2017

•  4,7034,703 Replies
 
•  17,48517,485 Retweets
 
•  60,60660,606 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Similarly, the Gainesville Police Department in Florida said it rejected Trump’s speech, which it claimed “endorsed and condoned police brutality.”

 Follow

Gainesville Police 

✔@GainesvillePD

The @POTUS made remarks today that endorsed and condoned police brutality.

GPD rejects these remarks and continues to serve with respect.

5:02 PM - Jul 28, 2017

•  3,0513,051 Replies
 
•  47,17847,178 Retweets
 
•  145,826145,826 likes