President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before leaving the White House in Washington, Friday, Dec. 15, 2017, for a trip to Quantico, Va., to attend the FBI National Academy graduation ceremony. (Photo: AP)
President Donald Trump received a warm welcome at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, where he spoke to graduates of a manager course on Friday morning. He made clear his support for law enforcement communities around the country.
“With me as your President, America’s police will have a true friend and loyal champion in the White House,” President Trump said. “We as a country must do a better job showing our police officers the respect and gratitude that you have earned. The President of the United States has your back 100%. I will fight for you and I will never, ever let you down, ever.”
He discussed the rise of violent crime in the United States. In September, the FBI released the 2016 edition of its Crime in the United States (CIUS) report, a data subset of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR).
The violent crime rate saw the largest single-year increases in 25 years, or since 1991, during the final 2 years of the Obama Administration.
“Now more than ever we must support the men and women in blue,” the President said. “Police departments are overstretched, they’re underfunded, and they’re totally under-appreciated – except by me.”
Covering January-December 2016, the report confirmed the violent crime increase began in 2015 after decades of decline.
“If we want to bring down violent crime then we must stand up for police.”
The nationwide homicide rate increased by 7.9%, bringing the total increase in the nationwide homicide rate to more than 20% since 2014. The 2016 report adjusted and corrected the 2015 violent crime rate to 3.3%, up from the initially reported 3.1%.
With the corrected data, the increases in the violent crime rate for 2015 and 2016 each represented the largest single-year increases in the violent crime rate since 1991.
President Trump cited the current political environment as being a cause in the rise of crime, including toward law enforcement. The theory often to referred to as the “Ferguson Effect” got a boost recently by another FBI report claiming it’s “very likely” the false narrative started by Black Identity Extremist (BIE) in Ferguson “spurred” an increase in cop killings.
“This anti-police sentiment is wrong, and it’s dangerous, and we will not stand for it,” the President said. “Every drop of blood spilled from our men and women in blue is a wound inflicted on our nation and when a brother or sister in uniform is hurt, on that day all of America bleeds blue.”
As a candidate, Mr. Trump ran on a Law and Order platform and the Trump Administration has taken action to fulfill those campaign promises. In February, President Trump signed three executive orders aimed at supporting law enforcement and arresting the increase in violent crime in America.
The first order instructed the attorney general to work on more effective ways to prosecute those who commit acts of violence and other crimes against law enforcement officials.
“We will protect those who protect us,” he told the graduates at the FBI National Academy. “Criminals who kill police officers should get the death penalty.”
President Trump’s speech to the FBI National Academy comes as several top-level bureaucrats have been exposed for harboring anti-Trump views. He has said the FBI was “in tatters” under the leadership of fired former director James Comey, a sentiment rank-and-file agents have also expressed to People’s Pundit Daily (PPD).
The course the graduates completed is a 10-week program that seeks to improve administration of justice in police departments and at law enforcement agencies at home and abroad. Students each week must complete a physical fitness challenge that culminates in a 6.1 mile run on a wooded, hilly trail built by the U.S. Marines.
They have to run through creeks, climb over walls and scale rock faces with ropes, among other obstacles.
“You are the guardians who keep us safe, who ward off danger, and who confront evil so that the good will always prevail,” he added. “Today, we honor you. We thank you, and we know that by your example some of the children here today and watching at home will be inspired to fill your shoes.”
