Pam Bondi: Joe Biden’s complicity in efforts to ‘defund the police’

Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, controlled by the radical left, are promoting plans to cut critical and necessary funding from law enforcement. The fact is that diminishing police resources have serious consequences for Americans.

Last February, in Waynesboro, Georgia, Police Sgt. Harold Drummond responded to a 911 call. Six-month-old AJ Sherrod had a respiratory infection and was in the car with his mother driving him to a hospital when he suddenly stopped breathing. Sgt. Drummond saved the baby’s life, demonstrating the importance of a law enforcement presence in our communities.

In April 2019, Culver City, California police officer Brian Cappell responded to a call of a baby choking on food. Ten-year-old Auria Lockridge guided Officer Cappell to her mother’s car where Janet Lockridge was struggling with Auria’s choking nine-month-old sister. Because of Officer Cappell’s training and rapid action, the baby was saved. The entire event was captured on Officer Cappell’s body camera.

These stories happen every day. The radical-left will claim EMS could respond to these situations, but the fact of the matter is police officers are often the first on the scene because they’re already out patrolling potentially dangerous streets around the clock.

While Biden and his media allies try to soft-pedal his blatant anti-police rhetoric, and demonize law enforcement, it is apparent that Biden actually supports defunding police departments across this nation. It is clear that Bernie Sanders and the radical-left heavily influence Biden’s policy decisions.

Contrast Biden’s complacency to the strength of President Donald Trump’s commitment to supporting America’s law enforcement. While Biden and his partisan allies continue to call on defunding, redirecting resources, and dismantling the police, Trump is making it unequivocally clear that he stands with law enforcement and will always support the brave men and women who serve and protect our communities.

Let’s be clear. The four officers involved in the murder of George Floyd must be held accountable. Any bad-acting member of law enforcement must be held fully accountable. But the overwhelming majority of men and women in policing serve with honor, commitment, and dignity. They risk their lives. They must have the support necessary to uphold law and order.

Biden’s “Unity Task Force” with proud socialist Sen. Sanders says we need to “re-imagine” policing — the identical language used by defund-police activists. There is actually not much “re-imagining” involved. The task force is straight-up calling for policies that would lead to less funding for police, and effectively end safe policing as we know it.

I’ve been a prosecutor since I was in my early 20s, and I can say from firsthand experience that defunding the police would create chaos. It would be one of the worst things you could do for the health, safety and economic mobility of any community.

Police fight crime, but they do so much more every single day. They help our kids get to school, they help us get to church, and to work. They are the first responders in emergencies, heart attacks, car accidents. How would a free society function without law enforcement?

We recently saw a number of violent individuals use the largely peaceful protests to loot, steal, vandalize and start fires. We have seen the leadership in many Democrat-run cities respond with weakness. In fact, some Mayors have ordered police officers to immediately release individuals arrested following street protests.

This sort of policy jeopardizes the health and lives of police officers and the communities they serve. It does nothing to hold lawbreakers accountable. If you commit a crime during a protest, no matter how legitimate the cause, you should be charged appropriately.

There are many good, honest protesters out there, both young and old, who want to make a difference and have their voices heard. Looters and criminals, the people attacking police and destroying property, should not be tolerated. Lawlessness and mob rule will never be accepted under Trump, who is the ultimate law and order president.

Biden and Democrat leaders who implicitly condone the violence by failing to speak out should take a look at their own cities and neighborhoods affected by the violence. Many of the storefronts looted and vandalized belonged to minority business owners. Violent protesters and criminals hurt the very people they claimed to be supporting.

Americans need to look out for the men and women of law enforcement, just as Trump does. As citizens, we are called to show our appreciation and respect.

Trump will always stand with law enforcement. However, Biden has demonstrated his willingness to throw our police under the bus if he thinks it’ll help him rile up the radical left. It is ultimately a cynical ploy. It will not succeed.

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Pam Bondi served as Attorney General to the State of Florida from 2011 — 2019. She is also a former Special Adviser to Trump in the Office of White House Counsel.