Paper Tiger Policing Will Not End Well For Law-Abiding Americans

I spent nearly four decades in local law enforcement. What I am seeing today is not even recognizable and doesn’t come close to how we protected and served our respective communities just three years ago. It’s almost embarrassing. The American Left has fully emasculated the American police officer. They have defanged them to the point of being a paper tiger.

Think of the state of things. Throwing rocks, bottles and other missiles at police lines as officers are ordered to stand down and absorbed the pelting. Private property is looted and torched. Law-abiding people caught up in the fray are beaten and killed. They are trapped inside cars as rioters surround them, not letting them escape, pound on the car while trying to get inside. In one incident in Virginia, a woman in her car with her young daughter called 911 to get a police response. Hearing her distress as I listened to the call replayed gave me chills. What if that was my family member, I thought. The operator told the woman that there was nothing she could do to help her. She told her they wouldn’t be sending police help and to call City Hall for direction because what was occurring was a sanctioned event. What? I am not making this up.

In another instance in the city of Greenfield, Wisconsin, the same county where I was sheriff for 15 years, numerous members of Black Lives Matter, who I refer to as Black LICE Matter showed up in front of a residence that had a We Support Our Police sign in their yard. The armed group began heckling the homeowner and his neighbor who came out to assist. The homeowner called 911 for a police response. He was told by the operator that no police response would be sent and that they were “monitoring the incident.” Monitoring from where, I thought. That call just a few months ago would have resulted in a red/blue light and siren response to keep the peace. Not anymore … now police just monitor these incidents until gunfire results, apparently. Is that the new crime prevention, I wondered?

Effective policing has always been premised on preserving the peace and preventing crime, not just responding to it. Now police don’t even respond to it. It gets better, or should I say, it gets worse.

Police in Seattle were ordered to abandon their police precinct, handing it over to rioters who attacked it. They remained in control of it for several weeks as police tried to negotiate its return. Police in Portland, Oregon, were reported to be in retreat as 60-plus continuous days of rioting was taking its toll on police resources. In another incident, police reported that 150 gunshots were fired around an apartment complex. There was no report of what police did in response. In Minneapolis, the chief recently issued an advisory that told citizens to give up valuables to holdup men. Just capitulate. Be a victim because they didn’t have the money for preventive patrols. In 2010, in a response to rising violent crime, I advised residents to arm themselves for self-defense.

I am in no way criticizing the front-line officers or questioning their courage and commitment to protect and serve. This is the result of ineffective police leadership. Today’s police commanders refuse to stand up to local politicians who have crawled into bed with the cop haters. They refuse to stand up to city councils and boards who are succumbing to calls to defund police and taking away tools needed to control crime and mass demonstrations that quickly turn to riots. The Milwaukee Police Chief has been banned by a police citizen oversight board from using tear gas in riotous situations. The city council refused a request for funds to replace dwindling stockpiles. There have been reports and photos of police executives who are kneeling with Black Lives Matter and actually marching with other cop-hating groups. I find it unconscionable to deploy officers out into harm’s way under stand down orders with no way to defend themselves when attacked.

This isn’t leadership, it’s a disgrace to this proud profession. It has taken its toll on the morale of front-line officers. It has left them confused about whether it is worth continuing in this or exiting the profession. Resignations and retirements in some large agencies are at record highs. Think of all the institutional knowledge walking out the door. How will they capture or replace it?

Violent crime is rising in cities the like of which we haven’t witnessed in decades. All the record crime reduction that cities had experienced is being wiped out in just a few months. Law-abiding citizens are living in fear. Their quality of life is in shambles with no sign of relief.

Defunding police is in vogue. The New York police budget has been slashed by $1 billion. That is one-sixth of the total budget. Other large cities are considering slashing budgets by 50% with no pushback by police executives. Wordsmithing has entered the picture. With polls showing no constituent support for defunding police, politicians are calling it re-directing funds to other agencies.

The question is how does this all end? I won’t sugar coat it. It ends poorly for law-abiding people. It ends poorly for law and order. It ends poorly for America as we know it.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Board of Directors for the Crime Prevention Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www. americassheriff.com