By Steve Pomper Many Seattle politicians can find nothing about the police department they like—except for defunding or otherwise disrespecting it. Whatever they can do to take any amount of prestige away from the cops the happier city leaders are. For example, until recently, the parking enforcement unit was attached to the police department. But Read more »
By Steve Pomper Once again, Seattle serves as well as any leftist-run city in America as an example of how many city governments are just not getting the message from Americans about what they want from their police departments. People want cops to protect and serve—and to enforce the laws—equally. Bruce Harrell, Seattle’s new mayor, Read more »
By Steve Pomper Here at the NPA, one of the most important missions is to educate people about what police do, so they can better assess officers involved in “controversial incidents.” But just as important are the others who write about police work but from a more academic perspective. For example, Manhattan Institute scholar Heather Read more »
By Steve Pomper There have been a lot of acquittals of cops, lately. This is likely because prosecutors never should have charged the officers in the first place. So-called police “oversight” shouldn’t include trying every officer in a court of law—for doing their jobs—because you didn’t like the outcome. “A jury has acquitted a Read more »
By Steve Pomper The left’s inability to engage in self-reflection is breathtaking as a recent headline in The Seattle Times demonstrated. “Police Misconduct is costing WA taxpayers millions. The trend shows no signs of slowing down.” Seattle is suffering a true, though self-inflicted, policing crisis, but the anti-police newspaper forges ahead with its anti-police, myth-making Read more »
By Steve Pomper I love it when people believe they would have handled whatever police incident they are criticizing “better” than the cops. This usually involves mostly using their imaginations bolstered by a flawed belief they know more than the trained professionals. I always like to ask cop critics what was the alternative? In this Read more »
By Steve Pomper I have the misfortune of living in the dictatorship of Washington State under Gov. Jay Inslee (refusing to relinquish his “emergency powers”). But, even living here and paying attention, I missed this news bit about the Washington State Patrol (WSP). Fortunately, the NPA’s own Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith brought it to my Read more »
By Steve Pomper When the left tries to “fix” something, they often break it. This is not only true of “fixing” history by breaking statues but also of “fixing” American law enforcement. After high-profile police shootings, exploited as “police brutality” regardless of the truth, they try to “fix” the cops. This was never truer than after Read more »
By Steve Pomper Lowering hiring standards for law enforcement officers is not new. But it’s happening again in many places, including Chicago. In the past, people criticized, for example, lowering fitness standards because they saw it as a way to hire more women. Now, they’re lowering standards to replace all the officers they’ve been chasing out Read more »
By Steve Pomper Recently, in Philadelphia, a police officer faced the most horrific scenario any cop can face. According to several reports, the officer was forced to shoot a 12-year-old boy who had shot at him and other officers. According to the Tatum Report, four plainclothes officers were in an unmarked patrol car looking “for a Read more »