Don’t look back
Attorney General’s speech at Top Cops awards confirms
new perspective on supporting law enforcement
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Before a roomful of representatives from law enforcement
agencies and organizations across the country – including a
contingent from the NJ State PBA, families of officers lost in the
line of duty and Top Cops – U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions
hit hard with back talk.
As in, we are back, no more stabbing you in the back and,
most importantly, “we’ve got your back.”
Sessions appeared at the National Association of Police Or-
ganizations (NAPO) Top Cops Awards on May 12 at the Omni
Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. in response to a request
from NAPO and a directive from President Trump to deliver an
emphatic message to all cops: The feeling that political leader-
ship has abandoned law enforcement stops now.
“One of the highest duties of my job is to call attention to
your successes and encourage citizens to support your difficult
work,” Sessions proclaimed. “So I make this pledge that the De-
partment of Justice will have the back of all honest and honor-
able law enforcement.”
If you feel like standing up and applauding after hearing such
a comment, you are in good company. The nearly 800 law en-
forcers and their friends and family members at the Top Cops
banquet rose with a prolonged standing ovation for Sessions.
In fact, the crowd might have felt like an aerobics class broke
out with the number of times attendees stood and cheered in
reaction to comments from Sessions that fueled a definitive
statement of “welcome back” to law enforcement.
NAPO had held the chief executive and his administration at
arm’s length the past several years primarily because of its com-
ments that seemed to prompt a public backlash against law
enforcement. The Top Cops used to visit the president at the
White House, but that practice was abandoned a few years ago.
With a new president who has repeatedly pledged his sup-
port for law enforcement, NAPO figured, don’t look back. On
May 4, NAPO President Mick McHale and Executive Director
Bill Johnson went to see Sessions and request that he speak at
the Top Cops Awards. The attorney general invited McHale and
Johnson in, which quickly put NAPO’s relationship with the ad-
ministration back on track.
“He invited us into his inner office and he wanted to make
it abundantly clear that his administration has your back,”
McHale revealed. “He wanted to assure us that the attorney
general – the nation’s top cop – is bringing the support back to
the police that is sorely needed.”
Whereas the previous administration might have presented a
feeling of turning its back on police, Sessions apparently want-
ed the Top Cops to hear it from the nation’s top cop. He knew
who was listening on this night. And why.
“As we begin National Police Week, I want every law enforce-
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ JUNE 2017
ment officer in America to know this: Our nation honors your
service. We remember the sacrifice of your brothers and sisters,
and we are grateful for all you do to protect us,” the attorney
general emphasized. “And you should know that you have a
president who believes strongly in your work. He believes
deeply, and he has made it clear through executive orders and
conversation with you and your leaders, that turning back the
recent surge in crime in this country is one of his top priorities.”
When the applause settled again, Sessions detailed some
of the work the Department of Justice has initiated to better
support local policing. As he stated the administration’s belief
that it’s not the responsibility of federal government to man-
age non-federal agencies (pause for another ovation), Sessions
related that the DOJ sent a memo in April to all U.S. Attorneys
directing them to review department policies and ensure they
promote public safety and officer support.
And as he paid homage to officers killed in the attacks in Dal-
las and Baton Rouge in July 2016, he advocated the administra-
tion’s perspective on how to reverse the trend of how morals in
many cities and towns have gone down while fatal shootings of
law enforcements officers have gone up.
“We need escalation of training, and we cannot retreat from
presence on our streets,” Sessions charged. “One violent act is
one too many. It is the goal of this Department of Justice to pro-
tect our officers while they are protecting the civil rights of all.
Working with you, we can make real progress.”
Suffice to say, Sessions presented a back-to-the future plan
on what the DOJ and the administration must do to make law
enforcing safer to make communities safer. And with his part-
ing words, he didn’t back off for one minute from the vehe-
mence needed to recognize that all cops are top cops.
“You have chosen the life of law enforcement and you have
chosen to put that badge on to do that hard, unglamorous work
of keeping us safe,” he concluded. “It’s a noble calling, and
our whole nation is grateful to each of you for answering that
call.”d