America’s Largest Police Union Endorses Trump

The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the U.S., endorsed GOP nominee Donald Trump for the presidency.

On Sept. 16, the FOP released a statement announcing its endorsement of Trump after more than two-thirds of the union’s national board voted in support, The Hill reports.

“[Trump] has seriously looked at the issues facing law enforcement today,” said FOP national president Chuck Canterbury. “He understands and supports our priorities and our members believe he will make America safe again.”

The GOP nominee has been courting the FOP for months, having met with the union’s top officials in May and making frequent campaign stops at state chapters throughout the summer.

Meanwhile, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton angered FOP officials after she declined to complete a questionnaire the union sent her in August.

The FOP requires presidential candidates fill out the questionnaire every election cycle to be in consideration for their endorsement.

“To be honest with you, I was disappointed and shocked,” Canterbury said at the time, deeming Clinton’s refusal to fill out the questionnaire a snub to law enforcement.

In the FOP endorsement, Canterbury indicated that he’s still incensed by Clinton’s perceived snub.

“Obviously this is an unusual election,” Canterbury said. “We have a candidate who declined to seek an endorsement, and a candidate without any record as an elected official.”

The FOP president said Trump “may not ever have been elected to public [office], but he is a proven leader…” He added what America needs for the next four years is “a leader unafraid to make tough choices and see them through.”

The last presidential candidate the FOP officially endorsed was GOP nominee John McCain in 2008. The last Democratic nominee the union endorsed was incumbent President Bill Clinton in 1996.

The FOP’s endorsement of Trump arrives after a year fraught with tension between law enforcement and minority communities.

Clinton touched on the issue during an August sit-down with law enforcement officials from around the country in New York, when the outgoing New York Police Department commissioner Bill Bratton endorsed her.

“I think it’s obvious that recent events in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Milwaukee and across the country underscore what difficult and important work there is ahead of us to repair the bonds of trust and respect between our police officers and communities,” Clinton said on Aug. 18, according to New York Daily News.

While Clinton has emphasized criminal justice reform in her campaign, Trump has pledged to fully support law enforcement and defer to their judgment.

During a campaign event in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on July 11, Trump described himself as a candidate who would restore law and order.

“We must maintain law and order at the highest level, or we will cease to have a country, 100 percent,” Trump said at the time, according to The Huffington Post. “Or we will cease to have a country.”

Sources: The Hill (2), The Huffington Post, New York Daily News / Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr