Attorney General Jeff Sessions pledged months ago to bring back “law and order” to the nation under President Trump and one of the largest police organizations in the nation is so far happy with what he’s done.
“We don’t have even a scintilla of apprehension about our relationship with this [Department of Justice] or the committment of this attorney general,” Jim Pasco, the executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police told the Washington Examiner of Sessions.
The Fraternal Order of Police, which boasts a membership of more than 300,000 sworn police officers, endorsed Trump for president in September 2016. And throughout his campaign, Trump wooed police unions and law enforcement members by promising to support them in both voice and policy.
Sessions, under the direction of Trump, has made good on those promises.
On Monday, speaking to the Fraternal Order of Police’s biennial conference in Nashville, Sessions announced he would roll back Obama-era restrictions on a federal program that limited state and local law enforcement agencies ability to obtain excess military equipment.
“Helping law enforcement do their jobs, helping the police get better, and celebrating the noble, honorable, essential, and challenging work of our law enforcement communities will always be a top priority of President Trump and this Department of Justice. We will always seek to affirm the critical role of police officers in our society, and we will not participate in anything that would give comfort to radicals who promote agendas that preach hostility rather than respect for police,” Sessions said.
And on Friday, he said the slander of police “has got to stop.”
Pasco told the Washington Examiner just how vital the collaboration between his organization and the Justice Department is on all levels, which includes key law enforcement positions in department sub-agencies like the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
The Fraternal Order of Police had pushed for the loosening of restrictions on the 1033 program, which gives law enforcement access to military equipment, and had met often with Sessions ahead of his announcement about it, Pasco said.
The next goal is filling those positions with which “we do business all the time,” Pasco continued.
“We want to work with the Justice Department once they have nominees to get them confirmed,” he concluded.
There are roughly 180 key positions at the Justice Department that do not have confirmed nominees. For example, there are only acting heads in the DEA and ATF.
But the Justice Department notes that they have moved more quickly than the last administration when nominating U.S. attorneys. They believe more will be nominated and confirmed soon after the August recess.
“We are looking forward to the Senate confirming them this fall along with our assistant attorneys general and U.S. marshals. Moreover, we expect there will be additional nominations shortly after the Senate comes back,” Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior told the Washington Examiner.
“Meanwhile, the attorney general is extremely grateful for the acting United States attorneys, assistant attorneys general, and U.S. marshals that are seamlessly continuing the crucial work and mission of the Department of Justice,” Prior added.
