The top law enforcement officer in the United States warned Tuesday that anti-police sentiment that is allowed to fester in the subconscious of the American public could threaten the rule of law.
Attorney General William Barr compared the promotion of mistrust in police peddled by some criminal justice reform activists in recent years to the unwelcome reception soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War received when they returned.
“In the Vietnam era, our country learned a lesson. I remember that our brave troops who served in that conflict weren’t treated very well in many cases when they came home, and sometimes they bore the brunt of people who were opposed to the war,” Barr said during a speech honoring police at the Justice Department. “The respect and gratitude owed to them was not given. And it took decades for the American people finally to realize that.”
A string of high-profile cases involving police officers shooting and killing unarmed black men has led to a national movement demanding the fair treatment of minorities by law enforcement. But the attitudes displayed by some of these activists has grown increasingly hostile, Barr argued, and creates a dangerous environment for police to work in.
These men and women work a thankless job, the attorney general said, and have a right to be trusted.
“When police officers roll out of their precincts every morning, there are no crowds along the highway cheering them on, and when you go home at the end of the day, there’s no ticker-tape parade,” he said.
Barr has criticized local governments and district attorneys in more liberal communities who have been aggressive in implementing implicit bias training in police departments and called for greater accountability among officers who abuse their power.
The attorney general said there should be a nationwide “zero-tolerance policy” for resisting police, for example.
“The American public has to start showing, more than they do, the respect and support that law enforcement deserves,” Barr said. “If communities don’t give that support and respect, they might find themselves without the police protection they need.”
