Last week week was an embarrassment of riches for those who mock President Trump, and chide those who were duped into voting for him. But among the many headline grabbing stories for our attention was the one where Trump joked and seemingly endorsed ‘‘roughing up’’ those who are arrested by police. At a time when police shootings get national press and the PR game is all important in combating false narratives it is vital that Trump not say anything, given his lack of insight or knowledge.
So it is not shocking in the slightest that police leaders across the country moved quickly to distance themselves from, and more importantly to outright condemn, Trump’s statements.
The swift public denunciations is a clear statement that departments which are under intense pressure to stamp out brutality and excessive force, were not pleased by Trump. The type of language used by Trump does lead to the erosion of a needed relationship between officers and the people they serve.
For instance in Los Angeles the police force feared that Trump’s idiotic three sentences could upend nearly three decades of fence-mending since the 1991 Los Angeles Police Department beating of Rodney King.
City after city around the country pushed back on the remarks off the top of Trump’s orange head. What everyone knows is what Trump did was to double down on what we need to remov, and that is an era of distrust of police.
There is no need to gin up–as Trump did–the idea that police officers use unnecessary force.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 