Police officers who go to vote in November may not be willing to just accept political candidates who simply pronounce they “support” law enforcement.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton refused to answer a candidate questionnaire of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) regarding her positions on policing, but sought out the support of Black Lives Matter activists throughout the year and remained relatively low profile during riots in Milwaukee recently.
Donald Trump and his campaign seized upon the opportunity to present the New York billionaire as the law and order candidate while branding Clinton as the anti-cop candidate, particularly after FOP president Chuck Canterbury told The Hill earlier in the month “she snubbed us.”
Clinton spokesman Jesse Ferguson defended Clinton’s actions when asked why she refused to answer the one of the country’s largest police union’s questions.
“Throughout her career, Hillary Clinton has been committed to our law enforcement officers,” Ferguson said. “As she said from the beginning of her campaign, across the country, police officers are out there every day inspiring trust and confidence, honorably doing their duty, putting themselves on the line to save lives.”
“She believes we must work together to build on what’s working and to build the bonds of trust between police and the communities they serve — because we are stronger together,” he added.
However, pro-police pronouncements made by Clinton — like saying that police should not be “vilified” days after the fatal shooting of Dallas police officers — may fall flat when an FOP chapter criticizes her for ignoring widows of fallen officers or receiving invoices from struggling police departments as a result of her campaign’s failure to pay a bill in a timely manner. Additionally, the former secretary of state repeatedly made remarks on television stating that “systemic racism” exists in law enforcement.
In an effort to show that she is not the anti-law enforcement candidate that Republican presidential nominee accuses her to be, Hillary Clinton met with top law enforcement officials from major metropolitan areas on Thursday.
“It’s obvious that recent events — from Dallas and Baton Rouge to Milwaukee and across the country — underscore how difficult and important the work is ahead of us to repair the bonds of trust and respect between our police officers and our communities,” Clinton said. “We have to be clear eyed about the challenges we face. We can’t ignore them and certainly we must not inflame them.”
Prior to Clinton’s meeting, Canterbury told The Daily Caller that all politicians want to be on the good side of law enforcement when election time comes around.
“Every politician running for office likes to say they support and like the work that [police] do but legislatively we’ve seen an attack on our healthcare and our pensions. Long-term disability programs are being cut out so law enforcement officers realize that for political gain every politician in America wants to run on a pro law-enforcement platform but the proof is in the pudding as to what they vote for,” Canterbury said.
“We are teaching our members to support candidates that support true law and order and support law-enforcement officers. I don’t see anybody running on a pro criminal platform. Getting up in front of cops and telling them that they are pro law enforcement is not going to work anymore. Cops are sophisticated. They look at what you do and providing benefits for the long-term,” he explained.
Canterbury stressed the importance of how officers are treated when they are injured in the line of duty.
“With their life on the line and then when they get shot then when they can’t come back to work in 180 days, They get terminated–a telltale sign of people who don’t really support the profession,” he said.
Trump did meet with FOP officials after filling out the union’s questionnaire. Canterbury describes the meeting with Trump as “cordial.”
“Mr. Trump has a genuine concern for the safety of law enforcement officers. It’s a little difficult because he has no legislative background. So you have to take what he says at face value because has no record to run on.”
FOP is expected to release their endorsement in September after their membership votes on the candidate they want to support.