CRIME/POLICE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump told a crowd of law-enforcement officers on Friday [7-28-17] they shouldn’t be ‘too nice’ when arresting ‘thugs,’ in remarks about combating gang activity.
Addressing federal, state and local law-enforcement officers in Brentwood, N.Y., on the threat posed by the transnational street gang MS-13, Mr. Trump also talked about the treatment of people who have been arrested.
‘You know when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in rough,’ the president said. ‘I said, please don’t be too nice.’
He also said police didn’t need to use their hands to protect the heads of those they were arresting as they put them in their cars. ‘When you guys put somebody into the car and you’re protecting their head—you know…like don’t hit their head, and they’ve just killed somebody—I said, you can take the hand away, OK?’
The comments drew some cheers and applause from the audience…
In the U.S. criminal-justice system, typically arrested suspects are legally innocent, as they haven’t been tried or otherwise adjudicated guilty.
Mr. Trump’s comments drew criticism from some law-enforcement groups. ‘It’s inappropriate for him to make those kind of comments, and fortunately police officers understand their authority and when they can use force and when they can’t,’ said Darrel Stephens, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a group of leaders from 69 urban departments.”
-Rebecca Ballhaus and Beth Reinhard, “Trump to Group of Law-Enforcement Officers: ‘Please Don’t Be Too Nice’,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 28, 2017 04:20pm