Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana makes a point about the consistent debt we owe to the brave men and women of law enforcement.

Today is Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. If you see a LEO in person, please thank them. And if you don’t, please pray for all of them. Without them, be would nothing but a lawless jungle. 👮🏽‍♂️👮 #BackTheBlue pic.twitter.com/FeCsyOtUBS

— DK Patriot🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 (@1Nicdar) January 9, 2022

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Scalise: Sunday, on National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, we honored the courageous men and women who proudly serve our communities and keep our families safe. Every day, they put their lives on the line to protect us, despite the rhetoric and policies of anti-police Democrats.

We must stand up against the radical “defund police” movement and show our law enforcement heroes that we have their backs. We must reject the efforts of the Democrat politicians and liberal city councils who are defunding their police departments and refusing to prosecute violent criminals.

As violent crime surges across the country, most notably in Democrat-run cities, it is disturbing that liberal and progressive lawmakers do not take responsibility for how their extreme policies have crippled police departments and allowed violent criminals to run rampant throughout our streets.

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The city of Detroit serves as a counterexample and was able to lower its homicide rate while murders spiked in other big cities nationwide. In an interview with The Detroit News, Detroit Police Commissioner Ricardo Moore said, “When you make police more visible, you’re removing a lot of the opportunity for crime.”

Anti-police Democrats are doing the exact opposite. By slashing police budgets, and undermining law enforcement officers, leftist Democrat officials are making it incredibly difficult for police departments to hire and recruit new candidates.

In many cities, law enforcement officers no longer feel supported, or able to safely protect their communities. In addition to the everyday sacrifices law enforcement officers make, this lack of proper funding and support means many officers will be less likely to continue to serve in law enforcement.

According to a survey from the Police Executive Research Forum, police departments have seen a 45% increase in retirements. In addition, there have been nearly 20% more resignations from officers in 2020-2021 compared to the previous year. These are alarming numbers.

In smaller cities and towns, police departments are struggling to respond to Democrats’ anti-police rhetoric, thereby making it more difficult to recruit the qualified officers they need to keep their communities safe.

In many liberal cities, like Austin, Texas, there are not enough police officers to respond to 911 calls unless it is a life-threatening emergency. In Austin, citizens are now required to call 311, instead of 911, unless they are in immediate danger. Save Austin Now, an organization that supports increased funding for law enforcement, says this change is because, “The police force simply does not have the manpower to respond to every call, so they have made the tragic and very difficult decision to stop responding with police officers to non-life-threatening calls.”  This is unacceptable…

President Biden and congressional Democrats must put aside their partisan theatrics and work with Republicans to protect American families by supporting our law enforcement officers.

Our police officers work long hours and make tremendous sacrifices so that we are able to work, live and raise our families in the safest communities possible. They wake up each day ready to charge into danger because they have our backs, and it is time that we all have theirs.

This piece was written by David Kamioner on January 10, 2022. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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