LEO group urges Trump administration to avoid policing mistakes of the past

By Brian Seay

Representatives from a coalition of more than 200 current and former police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors sent a letter to members of the Trump administration last week imploring them not to return to ineffective ways of reducing crime.
The Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration addressed the letter to President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and thanked them for its support of law enforcement, but cautioned against “lock ‘em up” policing strategies of the 1980s and 90s.
“We cannot incarcerate our way to safety,” the letter says. “Recent federal policy shifts seem to move away from this consensus, and risk repeating mistakes of the past. These include: restraining prosecutorial discretion by directing higher charges; limiting police accountability and oversight; and encouraging local police to expend limited resources on nonviolent crimes.”
The group says they think those policies are misguided and move crime and justice policy in a less effective direction. “As members of law enforcement, we do not believe that public safety is served by a return to tactics that punish without strong purpose,” said Ronal Serpas, one of the founders of the group, and the former Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department.
At a meeting in Washington, D.C. on

Source: Guns.com