Fraternal Order of Police Issues Warning Directly to Congress as Negotiations Break Down
The Fraternal Order of Police, the world’s largest police union, is frustrated that its yearlong discussions with Congress to enact common-sense criminal justice reform before the end of June have collapsed.
The FOP, which represents 356,000 law enforcement officers across the country, said the “demagoguery and scare tactics” of anti-police politicians were responsible for the stalled negotiations.
“The Fraternal Order of Police took the initiative and began participating in good faith discussions on criminal justice reform more than a year ago,” union president Patrick Yoes said in a statement on Wednesday. “We have spent countless hours working with Members of Congress from both parties, in the House and in the Senate, to draft legislation that would improve policing in the United States while preserving the protections so critically important to officers on the street.
“Unfortunately, given the politics of the moment, we seem to be poised to undo more than a year’s worth of work toward common sense criminal justice reform. Demagoguery and scare tactics have jeopardized the future of these efforts and may well have derailed the negotiations.
“If Congress abandons its efforts on criminal justice reform, the results for our citizens and our profession will be tragic.”
NEWS ➡️ Statement from National FOP President Patrick Yoes @PYoes on the Status of Criminal Justice Reform Efforts pic.twitter.com/rQEJRDYr4q
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) June 30, 2021
The deadline has now been pushed to an unspecified date, Politico reported Wednesday.
Negotiations reportedly began breaking down amid disagreements over qualified immunity, which protects individual police officers from being sued in civil lawsuits for alleged misconduct.
While the FOP did not address the issue, it underscored the need for some type of criminal justice legislation so there is a national, uniform standard for the appropriate use of force and body-worn camera policies.
The union said that if Congress failed to pass such legislation, “states and local jurisdictions will go their own way and make their own reforms — in fact, in some states and jurisdictions, this is already happening.”
The problem with different cities and states all having different police protocols is that it paves the way for partisan local bureaucrats to politicize police standards to “reflect local political concerns instead of best police practices,” the FOP said.
The nonstop demonization and scapegoating of police during the past year — which was led by the anti-police Black Lives Matter movement — has resulted in the defunding of numerous police departments nationwide.
This has unleashed catastrophic crime waves in Democrat-run cities across the country.
GLFOP: RT @GLFOP: As Violent Crime SURGES across America, some politicians and some in the media are gaslighting the public into thinking the Police are the Problem…
Homicides:
Atlanta ⬆️ 58%
Portland ⬆️ 533%
Philadelphia ⬆️ 37%Shootings:
New York… pic.twitter.com/8kUQ4szM4f— SCFOP Lodge #31 (@scfop_31) June 25, 2021
The anti-police rhetoric promoted by BLM and Democrats and amplified by the left-wing media has also made cops walking targets for vicious ambush attacks and murders.
?Witnessing a SURGE in violence against the brave men and women of law enforcement. Ambush-Style Attacks on officers are up 91% from 2020 (YTD). So far this year:
⚠️ 150 Officers Shot
⚠️ 28 Officers Killed by Gunfire
⚠️ 51 Officers Shot in 40 Ambush-style Attacks pic.twitter.com/hP4WtyScUj
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) July 1, 2021
As a result, many officers are quitting, sometimes en masse, and police departments are having trouble recruiting new people.
“We will continue to see historic levels of attrition in the policing profession which, coupled with the nationwide recruiting crisis, has put all of our citizens in greater danger,” the FOP said.
Amid the nationwide crime waves, many Democrats are finally starting to understand that having fewer cops emboldens criminals and endangers all Americans — especially the black and brown communities it claims to champion.
The FOP said it “remains committed to meaningful criminal justice reform” and will keep working with Congress to achieve this end.
It’s ridiculous that so many people had to murdered, raped, robbed and assaulted during the past year for Democrats to realize that scapegoating and defunding the police endangers everyone, but it’s a relief that the scales have finally fallen off some of their eyes.
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