(The Hill) — Former President Trump suggested Sunday that one “rough hour” of policing would end retail crime, as he called for law enforcement to be freed up to “do their job” without restrictions.
“See, we have to let the police do their job. And if they have to be extraordinarily rough—” Trump said at a rally in Erie, Pa., trailing off and claiming there are cases of criminals walking out of department stores with large appliances on their backs.
“And the police aren’t allowed to do their job. They’re told if you do anything, you’re going to lose your pension; you’re going to lose your family, your house, your car. What the hell is going on?” Trump continued. “They’re not allowed to do it because the liberal left won’t let them do it. The liberal left wants to destroy them.”
“One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out, and it will end immediately, end immediately. You know, it will end immediately,” he said.
Trump campaign officials said the former president was not putting forward a serious policy proposal but was speaking more broadly about letting police crack down on crime.
The former president, who has the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, has frequently spoken in favor of allowing law enforcement to do their jobs without fear of repercussions, calling for broad immunity for police officers. Trump has on multiple occasions said he would support the return of stop-and-frisk, a controversial practice that a judge in 2013 deemed violated the Constitution when used in New York City.
And Trump tells his supporters at nearly every rally that crime is out of control and that cities and suburbs across America are being overrun. The latest FBI crime statistics showed a 3% drop in violent crime across the country last year, including a significant drop in the number of homicides.
