The barely latent meaning Donald Trump promoted Sunday during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania about crime is unnervingly clear and the polar opposite of what Aurora is trying to accomplish.
Trump on Sunday told supporters at a rally that police across the nation are ineffective at preventing crime because so much of it is committed by unruly immigrants that American police must handle too gingerly.
He said that “one rough hour” by police would tamp down shoplifting across the nation.
“One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out and it will end immediately, you know? It will end immediately,” Trump said.
It’s not the first time Trump has supported police brutality as a strategy for crime prevention. Since running for office in 2015, Trump has regularly blamed immigrants for the nation’s criminal woes. He has encouraged police brutality and even insisted that police be immune from punishment for use of excessive and even deadly force.
Infamously, as the rioting began nationwide after the grizzly police killing of George Floyd in 2020, Trump said in a social media post, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Trump’s comments and campaign promises come at a time when Aurora is trying to unpack its longstanding problems with police brutality and seek ways to identify and prevent excessive use of force, especially against people of color.
Aurora’s new police chief, Todd Chamberlain, has so far made strong strides toward realizing what the goals of state’s consent decree against Aurora police clearly are: transparency, accountability and the ethical and lawful policing of the community. Chamberlain needs an opportunity to realize those goals.
What Trump calls for, and now is promising, is police thuggery and a return to Jim Crow laws and lawlessness.
While Aurora, and dozens of communities like it, have been finding leaders and strategies to weed out police bullies and criminals from its ranks, and create systems that identifies them and holds them accountable, Trump is asking that the nation look the other way or even promote “Goon Squad” police-gang violence as a form of criminal justice.
Trump’s implication is clear. The nation’s criminal justice system is inadequate in preventing criminal activity, and minority immigrants must be beaten and bullied by police into “behaving.”
He’s also insisting that when he invokes “mass deportations,” if elected, he would ensure police are offered immunity from being penalized for expanded use of force.
“We have to get back to power and respect,” Trump said. Police must “have immunity from prosecution, because frankly, our police are treated horribly. They’re not allowed to do their job.”
That’s not the job police are hired to do. The evidence in Aurora, and across the nation, is indisputable. Too often, in too many places, people of color are abused by police when dealing with officers.
The fear so many Black Americans have expressed toward police is real and visceral. Black parents having “the talk” with their children of color happens every day in America.
It’s unfathomable that Trump would promote police brutality as a tactic for addressing crime, and that he would be cheered by anyone for such a scheme.
The science is clear. “Tough-On-Crime” rhetoric and laws do not prevent murder, theft or any crime. Poverty, the lack of education, indifference by parents and the community drive the crime rate, but addressing those social problems can prevent people from criminal activity.
Trump is clear in what he wants. He’s not asking for white-collar criminals, like himself, to be roughed up by police during their arrests and incarceration. Trump actually wants widespread broadcasts of cops brutalizing suspects, believing it will make immigrants and people of color too fearful of retribution to commit any kind of crime.
It’s the philosophy of leaders of police states, totalitarian governments like Venezuela and Damascus, not of Aurora and the United States.
If you worked as hard as you do to justify your partisan hate as you might to improve your community you may have some credibility. Instead you are a deceitful, partisan liar who does nothing to improve your community while fomenting division with your deceptive invective.
Wow! I would be shocked to know that you are a supporter of the “Orange headed Dear Leader Donald Trump. Another person who is “too stupid to know you are stupid”. Bleach or Lysol might help you. At least your Dear Leader believes it. He’s just so brilliant Don’t believe me? Just ask him he will tell you that. And you would be stupid enough to believe it
Tough on crime — as in a swift arrest, aggressive prosecution, and long periods of incarceration — do indeed reduce crime. Bad policing —as in Trump’s single hour of violence — will not at all serve justice. It is a shameful idea.
Thanks for calling out Trump’s idiocy! Police are not needed to punish; they are needed to maintain peace. Apprehending violent criminals is tough work, but not all apprehentions are the same and tactics need to be developed to deescalate potential violent interactions. I applaud police who excel at deescalation. Those individuals are worthy of being called peace officers!
There is usually a midpoint that is accurate while political parties argue extremes. First, most of the racial bias directed toward APD has no real basis. The Attorney General has no criminal experience and called incidents racist simply because the people were black. It fit the popular narrative at the time. Therefore, the Consent Decree was born. It costs a great deal of money for mostly paperwork exercises. The legislature passed SB217 in a knee jerk reaction. It basically ran thousands of police officers out of the job. Naturally, because of its specialized message, the public has never understood what the “Police Reform Bill” did or said. The media will not discuss it even though we suddenly are scrambling to replace the many officers we lost. The police who are left are encouraged to not enforce minor crimes because some people of color might resist enforcement and something tragic might result. When you are afraid to enforce minor violations, you give criminals the means to commit crimes and avoid detection. All of those cars running around with no plates or stolen plates that are expired give the criminals the opportunity to commit burglaries. robberies and random shootings with little concern. Stops for minor violations are where the police find wanted persons, stop DUIs, find people kidnapping children, find criminals with guns, find people dealing drugs, find pedophiles outside schools, and a host of other things. Firm, fair enforcement does not have to be brutal or excessive. But it does require that the police have the backing of the community and the State. Some people will resist and fight. It is a reality. I know it is difficulty for the average person to deal with use of force. It often is not pretty. There are many people who will not give the officer a chance to talk, explain, or deescalate. The police must be able to use reasonable force (from the perspective of a reasonable officer). The suspect decides how violent that force will be. When the police can’t make any stop because someone will yell racism or brutality, then you can kiss any enforcement goodbye. So, when the police don’t come for over an hour or don’t seem concerned about the drag racing or vehicle breaking in your neighborhood, please realize that the legislature, the Attorney General. and the media have decided to put their stamp on law enforcement. That would be okay if they knew something about it or looked at facts. If Elijah McClain’s case was as horrendous as portrayed, why did a jury not convict all of the officers involved. Did the jury perhaps see more facts than you saw. Why was the APD pistol whipper acquitted? Is it perhaps because there were other videos that Chief Vanessa Wilson did not show the public or even her own officers. If we cannot expect transparency from our Chief or our City government, where are we.
At any rate, we are in need for a return to support for the police and impartial judgment of their actions. They must be able to use reasonable and necessary force and expect backing. We cannot continue to have Chiefs who fall in line with the popular narrative and make judgments that are politically motivated. We cannot judge individual arrests politically or based upon uninformed popular opinion. If you want to know the problem, you can simply look at the Chiefs who have failed to train, failed to provide ethical guidance, and failed to supervise their people. To demonstrate my point, please tell me how many Chiefs and Sheriffs you have heard talk about the Police Reform Bill (SB217). Crickets. Huge problem and crickets. Did you know that the bill basically says that the police can no longer use any force to disperse a violent crowd. The police can arrest them, but they can’t move them away from your home or business. There are a multitude of other problems with the bill that makes any police action a risk.
In the real world force is necessary. There are nasty people out there. They will kill you on a whim. It is necessary for the gangs to fear the police. Without that fear, there is little to deter them. The gang member can tell people that they will kill them and have some credibility. The gangs are not going to be afraid of you. It is necessary for the gangs to understand that the police will kill them if necessary. When they have no fear that the police will enforce, the public is after risk. Look at Mexico. With the present path we are on, that will be our future. So, Trump’s tough talk is warranted, even if he doesn’t understand any of our Constitutional limits. He can talk all he wants, there are many constraints on how much force an be used. The problem is that we have gone overboard in our restrictions on the police.
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah. Blah!
And Trump, who knows nothing about crime or effective law enforcement, claims to this day that the Central Park Five were guilty, despite DNA evidence clearing them and a confession by the actual assailant.
The thought of him returning to office should terrify any person who values effective law enforcement and an unbiased court system.