(Chris Parker, Headline USA) More police across the nation believe that President Joe Biden and the Democrat Party have turned their backs on them, as so-called justice reform restrictions and defunding leave law enforcement departments in turmoil.
“I would say that most police officers don’t believe that Joe Biden is on their side,” Joe Gamaldi, national vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told Just the News, Not Noise.
They also blamed left-wing policies at national and local levels for increasing crime rates. Gamaldi also said that “criminal justice policies in blue-ran cities ultimately harm minority communities the most.”
The Left’s “Defund the Police” movement has led to an appalling number of officers quitting or retiring. Sergeant Rich Cibotti with the San Francisco police academy said that, “unless we stop that from happening we’re really going to have a problem going forward.”
The resulting staffing shortages have created new challenges for active police officers. Officer burnout has reached an all-time high. More officers are also getting ambushed when shortages force them to patrol alone.
Still, the Defund the Police movement remains a high priority for Democrats. Yuh-Line Niou, a Democrat seeking a congressional seat in Manhattan, supports significant decreases to police funding even though she moved out Harlem due to its excessive crime rate.
The Biden administration has also maintained close relationships with leaders in the Defund the Police movement. Several of the movement’s most influential leaders have made frequent visits to the White House over the past year. One of Biden’s EPA picks also supports the movement.
Former federal prosecutor Brett Tolman has expressed significant concerns over the Left’s anti-police policies.
“We’ve developed policies that have sent a message that certain crime is okay,” he said, referring to Chicago‘s rule that bars police from chasing most suspects.
He also accused them of lying about their criminal justice reform proposals.
“It’s not really reform. What it is is incompetence, and it is neglect, and bad decision making and exercising their prosecutorial discretion inappropriately.”
