100 law enforcement officials endorse Harris
Just over 100 law enforcement officials endorsed Vice President Harris on Friday, ahead of former President Trump’s address to the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).
In a letter signed by 101 law enforcement officials, the group declared that Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) are “the only candidates we trust to keep our communities safe.”
The group cited Harris's work as a prosecutor, district attorney, and attorney general, during which she took on issues ranging from child sexual assault to transnational crime organizations. It also noted that the Biden administration's American Rescue Plan, which President Biden signed into law in 2021, included public safety investments for states to hire and retain officers.
It also cited Walz's investment in law enforcement in Minnesota, including $300 million in public safety training and community engagement.
And the group argued that Trump "has repeatedly shown he does not respect law enforcement or the rule of law," citing that the former president has said he would pardon those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while police officers were injured during the riots.
“This November, Americans will choose between someone who spent her career enforcing our laws and someone who has been convicted of breaking them,” the group wrote.
Trump is set to speak to the FOP’s national board of trustees on Friday in Charlotte, N.C., Spectrum News 1 reported.
Officers who signed the letter for Harris came from Colorado, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Illinois, Virginia and New York, among other states, and include ranks like sheriff, police chief, retired chief of police, retired detective, captain, state trooper and FBI special agent.
Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Maryland in the Democratic primary, signed the letter.
Crime is a hot-button issue that Republicans ran on in 2022 and are using on the campaign trail in 2024, too. They are using crime in major blue cities as a talking point against Biden and Democrats.
Biden in March touted the decrease in crime in 2023, citing data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) that found the U.S. experienced 11 percent less crime in cities over 1 million people compared to 2022, 13 percent fewer murders overall and 6 percent less violent crime.