30 July, 2017
"When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough", Trump said.
"The NYPD's training and policies relating to the use of force only allow for measures that are reasonable and necessary under any circumstances, including the arrest and transportation of prisoners", commissioner James O'Neill said in a statement. "Like when you guys put somebody in the auto and you're protecting their head, you know?"
Trump had been addressing law enforcement officials in Brentwood, New York, on Friday when he departed from remarks on his administration's efforts to dismantle the street gang MS-13, and began discussing the way officers lead suspects into police vehicles. "I said, 'You can take the hand away, OK?'" His comments were received with loud applause by the officers present. Violations of those rules are treated extremely seriously.
Trump then spoke dismissively of the practice by which arresting officers shield the heads of handcuffed suspects as they are placed in police cars.
But several police departments are pushing back on the president's comments.
On Saturday, Matthew Tuohy, a criminal defense attorney in Suffolk County, said that while he believed the president's remarks were meant to be humorous, the reaction from the officers in the crowd "exemplifies the mind-set and today's culture" in law enforcement on Long Island.
Suffolk County Police Department came under fire last November when its former chief James Burke was sentenced to almost four years in prison for beating a handcuffed man in an interrogation room.
Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks expressed her frustration with Trump's remarks.
The department also posted a short message to Twitter.
Within a few hours, the Suffolk County Police Department was already distancing itself from Trump's remarks, saying in a statement that the agency would "not tolerate roughing up prisoners".
"Those that applauded and cheered should be ashamed", added department spokesman Ben Tobias. Whether it be the damage created by non-fatal force or lethal police killings, the topic of police reform is an critically urgent issue that has become incredibly polarized between activists/citizens who want more oversight and accountability, and the pro-police crowd who believe cops are being unfairly demeaned by calls for reform.
"It's an unfitting comment for a president of the United States, but it's a fitting comment for this president who is unfit to be president", Scott said. The violent worldwide group has terrorized communities on Long Island and in other parts of the country.
During the speech at Suffolk County Community College, Trump encouraged officers to be more violent with criminal suspects.
What Trump was actually doing was encouraging law enforcement officers to ignore both their departments' policies and local, state, and federal law. But the president did not mention Sessions in his remarks.
