Even though the election is behind us, police officers around the country will continue to put themselves in harm’s way everyday to keep us safe and uphold the rule of law. Supporting them becomes more important than ever once the election spotlight fades away and the hard work of governing begins.
As we’ve seen with politicians like Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, elected officials will not hesitate to throw law enforcement under the bus when it benefits them to do so.
“All the craziness died down, and now the anti-police rhetoric needs to go up. She’s pushing her anti-police agenda. She wants to break the union. So, she throws gasoline on a fire,” Chicago FOP President John Catanzara Jr. told the Chicago Tribune.
Candidates across the country ran on messages “defunding” the police, which we all know would be a disaster and lead to even more dangerous, violent criminals roving our streets and disrupting our way of life. Join and support police leaders in cities like Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and Charlotte, who are pushing for common-sense reforms and advocating for civility, not fiery rhetoric, in discussions about the future of policing in their communities.
As you might have seen in our recent mailing, support of our police officers is important now more than ever. The National Police Support Fund continues the fight to restore the respect and honor that law enforcement officials deserve as they work to keep violent, dangerous criminals off of our streets — despite efforts from elected officials to deprive departments of resources and release dangerous inmates from prison.
“These social issues will not disappear because they are taken off the police call sheet,” Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales wrote in an op-ed for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Those organizations must be funded, staffed and prepared to embark on this new vision as partners.”
Solutions like the use of force continuum provide a realistic alternative to ensure that police can do their jobs without creating unnecessary harm or risk to innocent bystanders. It’s important that we continue to voice these issues to elected officials in the coming weeks, months, and years and urge for sustainable change over irrational decisions made to appease far left-wing anti-police activists.
Police will also continue to put themselves at risk of contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty, as has already happened in cities across the country. They’ll need our support to make sure they receive the PPE they need and are able to take time off when they’re sick to prevent further spread of the virus among law enforcement.
Things like hazard pay and workers’ compensation are critical to giving police the support they need during the ongoing pandemic.
“As police officers, we never know if the next person we encounter will be exposing us to coronavirus, but that will not stop us from responding to calls when a member of the public needs us,” said Jeremy Bowman, Jefferson City police officer and president of Jefferson City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 19 told the Missourian. “But if we are exposed to this deadly virus, knowing that it will be treated as a duty-related illness will allow peace of mind for our officers and our loving families.”
With so many issues likely to continue long past the election, our men and women in blue need your support now more than ever to hold these politicians accountable and make sure they give police the respect they deserve. Lend your support to our ongoing efforts at npsfdev.wpengine.com/petitions/restore-respect/.
