President Donald Trump, fresh off his 74th birthday, signed an executive order flanked by law enforcement in the White House Rose Garden. Trump met earlier with families of victims of police abuse before the signing, showing that he wants to reform law enforcement around the country, not de-fund the police as Black Lives Matter [BLM] and other radical groups demand. BLM was not given a seat at the table where Trump outlined several reform steps for national law enforcement. Trump’s order focused on (a) credentialing and certifying police departments, (b) boosting information-sharing to better track officers with excessive use-of-force complaints and (c) creating services for addressing mental health, drug addiction and homelessness. Trump did not make federal funding contingent on the reforms though certain grants would be awarded to departments meeting the guidelines.
Trump contrasted himself sharply with the Democrat Party that’s essentially acquiesced to BLM’s demands to de-fund police departments, reallocating funds to nonprofits connected to the black community. “Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals,” Trump said from the Rose Garden, refusing to capitulate to the widespread street demonstrations and violence in the wake of 46-year-old George Floyd’s May 25 chokehold murder by 44-year-old white former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin. Mass hysteria in the media and with civil rights groups have called for de-funding the police, even though a strong police presence in poor communities helps keep crime down. Since Floyd’s death, BLM and other civil rights groups have piled on the police, without showing data proving that “systemic racism” exists in police departments around the country.
Trump made it clear he opposes any attempt by BLM or any other group to weaken law enforcement around the country, insisting that the thin blue line maintains law-and-order, something not witnessed on the streets since Floyd’s death. Seattle authorities have ceded six square blocks in the so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone [CHAZ] where no police, fire or paramedics are allowed, creating health, safety and welfare concerns in the cordoned off area. BLM and Antifa battled Seattle police with projectiles and taunts, until 62-year-old Mayor Jenny Durkan stood down. Joined by Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee, Durkan decided to cede the six-block area of BLM and Antifa, rather than enforce the rule of law. No radical group has the right to seize land in any city without law enforcement retaking the seized property, something that hasn’t happened in Seattle.
Trump wants the nation to know, despite Democrats and the mainstream press, that only a “tiny” fraction of “bad cops” exist in law enforcement agencies around the country. Wild statements by BLM and other civil rights groups that white law enforcement have declared “open season” on African Americans is preposterous. Real data, not concocted data by anti-law enforcement groups, show that over 5,000 African Amricans die of violent crime by black perpetrators, not, as BLM says, by white police officers on black victims. In 2019 FBI crime statistics show that only nine African Americans died at the hands of white police officers. Nineteen whites died from confrontations with white police. Signing his executive order, Trump wanted law enforcement to know that he did not blame white cops for the overwhelming numbers of black deaths in America. Trump gave the clearest contrast yet with Democrats.
Trump’s executive order did not call for a ban of carotid artery chokeholds, reserving their use only in life-or-death situations. “We want it done fairly, justly. We want it done safely,’ Trump said referring to police reform. “But we want law and order. This is about law and order, but it’s about justice also,” Trump said, refusing to join the national chorus to de-fund or blame the police for today’s police brutality with racial groups. House Democrats rolled out their own reform proposals last week calling for a nationwide ban on chokeholds. Democrats want to ban “no-knock” warrants, after the March 13 officer-involved shooting death of Breonna Taylor. Democrats want to make in easier for victims of police brutality to recover damages when Constitutional rights are violated. While there’s room for compromise between Democrats and Republicans, the big difference remains de-funding police.
Sponsoring GOP police reform bill, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) wants better police reporting, accountability, training and relations with police departments. Trump wants to send a strong message to law enforcement that he’s got your back. Democrat have thrown their lot in with BLM, calling for immediate de-funding of police departments around the country. Trump has warned Inslee and Durkan that if they don’t act to restore sovereignty of Capitol Hill to Seattle police, then he’ll do something about it. “I strongly oppose the radical and dangerous effort to de-fund, dismantle and dissolve our police departments, especially now when we’ve achieved the lowest recorded crime rates in recent history,” Trump said. “Americans know the truth: Without police, there is chaos. Without law, there is anarchy. And with safety, there is catastrophe,” Trump said, pitting himself against Democrats this fall.
