U.S. Senator Speaks Candidly: ‘I See a Dangerous Future if We Don’t Find Ways to Stand Up for Law Enforcement’

By Stephen Owsinski

Surely, it doesn’t take a sentient to figure out that cops were and continue to be shortchanged on almost everything over the past handful of years. The country is in shambles. Law and order has morphed into rampant unlawful acts and dire disorder.

The hardcore truth regarding pander-prone politics and movements involving anti-police minions perpetuated the absolute degradation of our nation’s law enforcement professionals, some grotesquely slain for doing the right thing on behalf of many.

Such an antithetical stance has seeded and watered anarchy across the landscape, placing cops in the crosshairs of violent malcontents who, if apprehended, are shown the Exit door at county jails. Despicable! 

Recently, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R – North Carolina) candidly told the truth about American law enforcement officers and the societal decay they continue to combat:

“I see a dangerous future if we don’t find ways to stand up for law enforcement, to increase penalties for someone who intends to do harm to them — which is why I think it should be a federal crime to do harm to them… If it ends in death, it should be a life sentence.”

In September 2020, Mr. Tillis, echoing today’s message, said this: ”Disarming law enforcement by defunding the police is part of that dangerous assault. We’ve got to support law enforcement & defeat candidates who don’t have their backs.”

Whether Down Under or on American soil, realities of police principles must be considered:

Surely, the minority of street-preying, violence-hatching criminals remorselessly victimizing hard-working citizens, ever mindful of the “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” clause contained in the U.S. Constitution…would disagree with Senator Tillis.

But that also means the majority whose views counter bad actors wholly embrace the selflessness and heroic deeds of law enforcement officers, especially since the nationwide lot has dwindled due to “defund the police” aficionados and public safety abolitionists whose lack of critical-thinking skills is on full display.

Pretty incredible that the small lot barking loud and incessantly can somehow get their way of bashing (in a burgeoning number of cases, literally) law enforcement officers serving a robust population of roughly 341 million inhabitants (not counting the droves of millions of illegal immigrants, some of whom are exhibiting vileness and violence).

Nevertheless, cops keep responding to calls for service, saving the day(s) of those who beckon.

As Senator Tillis underscored, when a law-abiding citizen dials 9-1-1 and sees a police officer show up, “they do not fear them, they revere them.”

Listening to a brief broadcast whereupon Senator Tillis offers words pillaring the men and women in public safety roles, it is clear that he is among the brand of elected officials who back the blue…which also means he honors his constituents’ sanctity. His website has a tab devoted to Law Enforcement & Crime, evincing strides he has made as a U.S. senator on behalf of the voters who helped place him in that seat. LEOs are the benefactors, deservedly.

Unlike others on the proverbial “other side of the aisle,” city police officers, county deputies, and state troopers receive robust respect from Mr. Tillis. His social media sites are replete with support for first responders.

The senator offered a House floor speech specifically relegated to the most recent launch of National Police Week and the nation’s fallen officers:

“Senator Thom Tillis has been a champion for local, state, and federal law enforcement and has been a national leader in advancing legislation to ensure they have the tools, resources, and support they need to protect the public and stay safe while in the line of duty,” a post on the senator’s site exclaimed. Note the endorsed prescriptions for funding…

You will not see such things from the likes of Cori Bush and like-minded ilk on the Hill; they are just too thrilled to spend tax dollars on private security (who have zero arrest powers and rely on sworn law enforcers to take custody of miscreants). Why cut out the middleman when you can selfishly throw others’ money at him?

Conversely, it would be respectful, responsible, and highly honorable if more elected officials from all levels —local, county, state, and federal— publicly decried the multi-level attacks on America’s cops, not only recorded in congressional hearings but anywhere they are presenting any subject matter whatsoever, formally or informally.

Given that politicos are placed in hallowed halls by the people they represent, standing up for law enforcement officers in all manners is a magnificent way to ensure the welfare of folks going about their lives in a free society. You know, what Congress is supposed to do.

(Photo courtesy of Senator Thom Tillis)

Speaking of a free society, many of our nation’s metropolis environs are so overrun with fanned free-for-all behaviors, smart and safety-conscious folks have pulled up stakes and planted them elsewhere, in locales where first responders are wholly embraced.

We all possess a psyche that can be taunted by anything in the slightest, so…imagine being a cop subjected to tons of taunt for a living, working excessively due to a way-too-whittled demographic of crimefighters.

Salting our topic with a bit of human nature and the realm of organizational psychology, and how it enhances professional lives and the entities for which they work, the definition applies to our cops and the proverbial “thankless job” they fill, at significant risks to themselves:

“The specialty of Industrial Organizational Psychology addresses issues of recruitment, selection and placement, training and development, performance measurement, workplace motivation and reward systems, quality of work life, structure of work and human factors, organizational development and consumer behavior,” per the American Psychological Association.

So, yeah…the senator is correct in his assertions and valued for trumpeting warnings about undeserved mistreatment of and pitiful conditions for law enforcement officers trying to do The Job.

The only thing I would add to the senator’s statement is the enhancement of “more.”  He said, “I see a dangerous future if we don’t find ways to stand up for law enforcement.” On its face, his declaration is glaring. Given an already-rife environment in which policing is severely treacherous, a more dangerous future lies ahead…if we do not get behind our cops and back the blue like never before.

Incidentally, making harming or killing a law enforcement officer a federal crime means convicted persons doing federal time.

This article originally appeared at the National Police Association and was reprinted with permission. 

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